Prelims Current Affairs 

Social Issue

 

 

Index

 

1.PRAGATI (PRO-ACTIVE GOVERNANCE AND TIMELY IMPLEMENTATION)

2.SKILLS ACQUISITION AND KNOWLEDGE AWARENESS FOR LIVELIHOOD PROMOTION (SANKALP)

3.IMPACTING RESEARCH INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (IMPRINT) INDIA

4.SURROGACY REGULATION BILL

5.WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK-2019

6.UP, Delhi and Rajasthan among worst performers in breastfeeding

7.INTERSTATE PORTABILITY OF RATION CARDS

8.NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD RIGHTS

9.TRIFED

10.JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN

11.National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)

12.PAHAL

13.INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)

14.MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME

15.INVESTIGATION TRACKING SYSTEM FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES (ITSSO)

16.RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH

17.PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDANA YOJANA

18.SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) ACT

19.JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015

20.PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETIES AND FARMERS’ RIGHTS ACT, 2001

21.NIRBHAYA FUND

22.Women Help Desks

23.UNIVERSAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMME

24.ELECTRONIC NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS (ENDS)

25.FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF INDIA (FSSAI)

26.SWACHHATA PAKHWADA

27.NATIONAL ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL PROGRAMME FOR FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (FMD) AND BRUCELLOSIS

28.PRE-CONCEPTION AND PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PROHIBITION OF SEX SELECTION) ACT OF 1994

29.Community radio stations

30.Jan Soochna Portal

31.Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme

32.Poshan Abhiyaan

33.Tobacco

34.Mukhyamantri Street Light Scheme

35.Water Footprint

36.Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative

37.10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy

38.TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign

39.National Nutrition Survey

40.Mo Sarkar Initiative

41.Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan

42.SARAS Aajeevika Mela

43.Food Safety Mitra scheme

44.GOAL (Going Online as Leaders)

45.Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report

46.National Pension Scheme

47.Child Well-Being Index

48.Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019

49.‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon

50.Women Transforming India Awards

51.Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

52.‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon

53.Saharia children battle malnutrition

54.Himayat Mission

55.Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)&Sample Registration System (SRS)

56.Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)

57.Social Audit

58.Water Quality Report for State Capitals & Delhi

59.IMD World Talent Ranking Report

60.Road Accidents in India, 2018

61.Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports

62.One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme

63.Population Control

64.Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

65.Survey of Persons with Disabilities

66.National Child Labour Project

67.Going Online as Leaders (GOAL)

68.Jaga Mission

69.Accessible India Campaign

70.Gender Gap Index

71.Kaleshwaram Lift Irriga¬tion Project (KLIP)

72.Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban

73.Swachh Survekshan League 2020

74.National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self-Employed Persons (NPS-Traders) 2019

75.Street Lighting National Programme

76.India’s under¬-5 girls face high mortality

77.Women, Business and Law (WBL) Index 2020

78.World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020 (WESO) Report

79.Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme

80.National Population Policy

81.Gender Parity Index

82.Track Child Portal

83.USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development)

84.National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on children and women trafficking

85.National Deworming Day (NDD)

86.A Future for the World’s Children Report

87.Participation of women in various schemes

88.Suposhit Maa Abhiyan

89.Kishori Shakti Yojana

90.Gender Social Norms Index

91.Schemes for Minority Communities

92.SVAMITVA Scheme

93.Revamp of Swachhata App

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.PRAGATI (PRO-ACTIVE GOVERNANCE AND TIMELY IMPLEMENTATION)

Why in news?

• The Prime Minister chaired his thirtieth interaction through PRAGATI – the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.

 PRAGATI:

• PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive platform.
• It aimed at addressing common man’s grievances and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
• It was developed jointly by Prime Minister’s office (PMO) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) and was launched in 2015.

 More about the Programme:

• It is a three-tier system comprising of the Prime Minister’s Office, Secretaries of the Central Government and Chief Secretaries of the State.
• PRAGATI upholds cooperative federalism as it is a unique platform that brings together, the Secretaries of Government of India and the Chief Secretaries of the states onto one single platform.
• The conference is scheduled on every fourth Wednesdays, called PRAGATI day. It is an innovative project promoting e-governance & good-governance.
• The platform is a combination of three latest technologies namely geo- spatial technology, videoconferencing and digital data management.
• The programme will ensure the timely completion and speedy implementation of the government projects.

2.SKILLS ACQUISITION AND KNOWLEDGE AWARENESS FOR LIVELIHOOD PROMOTION (SANKALP)

Why in news?

• Review meeting of World Bank loan assisted “Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP)” programme was held.

 SANKALP programme:

• SANKALP is an outcome-oriented centrally sponsored programme of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with a special focus on decentralised planning and quality improvement.
• It focuses on the overall skilling ecosystem covering both Central and State agencies.
• SANKALP aims to implement the mandate of the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM).

Under SANKALP four key result areas have been identified:

• Institutional Strengthening (at National, State & District level);
• Quality Assurance Quality Assurance of skill development programs;
• Inclusion of marginalised population in skill development; and
• Expanding Skills through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

 The main objectives of the project are:

• Creating convergence among all skill training activities, both State-led and Government of India funded, at the state level;
• Improving quality of skill development programs through enablers such as building a pool of quality trainers and assessors, developing model curriculum and content, and standardizing assessment and certification;
• Establishing robust monitoring and evaluation system for skill training programs;
• Providing access to skill training opportunities to the disadvantaged sections; and o Creating industry led and demand driven skill training capacity.

Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE):

• It is a World Bank assisted-Government of India project with the objective of improving the relevance and efficiency of skills training provided through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and apprenticeships.
• The schemes aim to develop a robust mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions such as State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc.
• The schemes shall support universalization of National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) including National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) across the skill development schemes of central and state government’s thus ensuring standardization in skill delivery, content and training output.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) covering the following areas:
• Improved performance of ITI.
• Increased Capacities of State Governments to support ITIs and Apprenticeship Training
• Improved Teaching and Learning.
• Improved and Broadened Apprenticeship Training.

3.IMPACTING RESEARCH INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (IMPRINT) INDIA

Why in news?

• Union HRD Minister inaugurates TechExa technology exhibition organized to demonstrate products and prototypes developed under IMPRINT and UAY.

 IMPRINT India:

• A national initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
• IMPRINT is a first-of-its-kind Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a (a) New Engineering Education Policy, and (b) Roadmap for Research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in selected domains needed by the country.
• The first phase of IMPRINT is dedicated to creating a policy document defining the scope, strategy and mandate for pursuing engineering challenges in the country and not developing a specific technological product or process.
• The real engineering pursuit will ensue in the second phase.
• Under the IMPRINT-I Programme, 142 projects are already under implementation.

 Objectives of IMPRINT

• Identify areas of immediate relevance that requires innovation in the society.
• Ensure support and higher funding for research for identified areas.
• Measure outcomes of innovation and research efforts and its impact on people’s standard of living.

 Domains and Coordinators of IMPRINT:

Steered by IIT Kanpur (as the national coordinator)

1. Health care: IIT Kharagpur
2. Information and Communication Technology: IIT Kharagpur
3. Energy: IIT Bombay
4. Sustainable Habitat: IIT Roorkee
5. Nano-technology Hardware: IIT Bombay
6. Water Resources and River systems: IIT Kanpur
7. Advanced Materials: IIT Kanpur 
8. Manufacturing: IIT Madras
9. Security and Defense: IIT Madras
10. Environmental Science and Climate Change: IISc, Bangalore

IMPRINT India II:

• IMPRINT-2 has been approved by Government of India (GoI) with a revised strategy under which, this national initiative will be jointly funded and steered by MHRD and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• While any faculty member from an MHRD funded Higher Education Institute (HEI) including Centrally Funded Technical Institution (CFTI) may lead as the Principal Investigator (PI), single or multiple partners from stake holder ministry, institutions, PSUs, strategic agencies and industry are welcome as Co-PI, partner or collaborator.
• Proposals under IMPRINT II Projects should (a) address any declared theme (thrust area) under one of the 10 domains of IMPRINT, and (b) connect either with already identified or new research topics defined by the PI under the same 10 domains.

 Important features of IMPRINT-2

• Principal objective is to translate knowledge into viable technology
• About 425 projects with up to Rs 2 crore budget will be supported
• IMPRINT-2 is open to all MHRD funded HEIs / CFTIs
• 27 ministries of GoI remain partners of IMPRINT-2
• Projects with industry support will be preferred

 Side Angle

 Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY):

• Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana has been launched to promoting innovation of a higher order that directly impacts the needs of the Industry and thereby improves the competitive edge of Indian manufacturing.
• The scheme focuses on a viable industry-academic collaboration where industry shares a part of the cost of research.

4.SURROGACY REGULATION BILL

 Why in news?

• Surrogacy regulation Bill passed in Lok Sabha.

 About Surrogacy:

• Surrogacy is the practice where by one woman carries the child for another with the intention that the child should be handed over after birth.
• Such a surrogacy arrangement may be altruistic or commercial in nature.
• Altruistic surrogacy involves an arrangement where the couple does not pay the surrogate mother any compensation other than the medical and insurance expenses related to the pregnancy.
• Commercial surrogacy includes compensation (in cash or kind) paid to the surrogate mother, which exceeds the reasonable medical expenses associated with the pregnancy.

 About The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill:

• The bill seeks to ban commercial surrogacy.
• The Bill aimed at ending the exploitation of women who are lending their womb for surrogacy, and protecting the rights of children born through this.
• Constituting a National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Boards, and the appointment of appropriate authorities for the regulation of the practice and process of surrogacy.
• The Bill seeks to allow only altruistic surrogacy by infertile Indian couples from a “close relative”, while prohibiting foreigners, NRIs and PIOs from commissioning surrogacy in the country.
• Even singles, homosexuals and live-in couples cannot apply for surrogacy.

 Eligibility:

• Women within the age group of 23 years to 50 years and men aged between 26 and 55 years will be eligible to go in for surrogacy.
• A woman can be a surrogate only once in her lifetime.
• Only Indian couples who are legally married for at least five years and possess a certificate from a doctor stating that they are medically unfit to produce a child can opt for surrogacy.
• Couples who already have children will also not be allowed to opt for surrogacy.

5.WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK-2019

Why in news?

• Report Card on “Breastfeeding & Infant & Child feeding Practices” released. Health Ministry to celebrate breastfeeding week every month.

 More News on this Topic:

• World Breastfeeding Week-2019 was organized.
• The theme of this year of World Breastfeeding Week is ‘to empower parents, enable breastfeeding: now and for the future’
• Early initiation of breastfeeding within an hour of birth can prevent neonatal mortality; whereas exclusive breastfeeding for six months significantly reduces episodes of diarrhoea and pneumonia in infants and children.
• Health Ministry will be carrying out activities to promote breastfeeding by creating awareness about its multi-fold benefits from 1st to 7th of every month till 2022.

 World Breastfeeding Week-2019:

• World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) is a global network of individuals and organisations dedicated to the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding worldwide.
• Annually, WABA coordinates and organises the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) between Aug 1-7.

 Mother’s absolute affection (MAA):

• MAA – “Mother’s Absolute Affection” is a nationwide programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in an attempt to bring undiluted focus on promotion of breastfeeding and provision of counselling services for supporting breastfeeding through health systems.
• The programme has been named ‘MAA’ to signify the support a lactating mother requires from family members and at health facilities to breastfeed successfully.

6.UP, Delhi and Rajasthan among worst performers in breastfeeding

Why in News

• According to a report-card released by the Union Health Ministry, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Punjab fare the worst when it comes to the practice of breastfeeding.

Background:

• The World Health Organisation says that if breastfeeding was scaled up to near-universal levels, lives of about 8 lakh children could be saved every year.
• Globally, only 40% infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months.
• While breastfeeding is a natural act, it is also a learned behaviour, according to WHO.

Information

• The report notes that these states have the lowest rate for breastfeeding within one hour of birth, exclusive breast feeding for six months and complementary breastfeeding from six to nine months.
• States that top the report card include Mizoram, Sikkim, Odisha and Manipur.
• These regions also show good indicators in terms of the other parameters where children are breast fed exclusively for six months etc.

 

7.INTERSTATE PORTABILITY OF RATION CARDS

Why in news?

• In a major step towards achieving the objective of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution inaugurated the inter-State portability in two clusters of adjoining States of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana and Gujarat & Maharashtra.

 More News on this Topic:

• This will enable beneficiaries from either States’ cluster to avail the benefits accruing to them under the National Food Security Act from any of the two States.
• After leveraging the progress under Computerization scheme, 11 States/UT of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura have implemented the intra-State portability of ration card holders to lift the entitled food grains from any Fair Price Shop within their State.
• Further, it is envisaged that the inter-State portability shall be introduced in the 11 States having already implemented intra-State portability by 1st January 2020.
• All other States/UTs having attained requisite readiness for inter-State portability, shall be integrated in a phased manner.
• Thereby, enabling nation-wide portability of ration card holders to receive subsidized foodgrains under NFSA from anywhere in the country by 1st June 2020.

 Benefits of Interstate portability of ration cards:

• This initiative shall be very helpful for the large migratory population of the country who migrate from one part of the country to other in search of job/employment, marriage, or any other reason.
• To sustain the reforms brought in by the ongoing scheme of ‘End-to-End Computerization of TPDS Operations’.
• Installation of electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices at Fair Price Shops (FPSs) is the main enabler of portability of ration card holders, supported by the biometric/Aadhaar authentication.

 National Food Security Act:

• The NFSA aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the population.
• It converts existing food security programmes of the Central Government into legal entitlements.
• It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System.
• Pregnant women and lactating mothers and children are entitled to get meals under the prescribed nutrition by MDM and ICDS.
• NFSA 2013 will provide high nutrition food to the children from age group of 6 months to 14 years.
• Pregnant women and lactating mothers will be entitled to get maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000

8.NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD RIGHTS

Why in news?

• Over 5,000 children in the age group of six to 14 years have abandoned education in the mica mining districts of Jharkhand and Bihar, and a section of them have started working as labourers to supplement their family income, according to a government survey conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

 National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR):

• It is the apex child rights body which emphasizes the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights and recognizes the tone of urgency in all the child related policies of the country.
• The Commission’s Mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• It was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.
• The commission works under the aegis of Ministry of Women and Child development.
• The Child is defined as a person in the age group of 0 to 18 years.
• It also has responsibilities under POCSO Act, 2012 and RTE Act,2009.
• It is the responsibility of NCPCR to establish Children’s Courts for speedy trial of offences
• against children or of violation of child rights and get State governments and UT administrations to appoint a Special Public Prosecutor for every Children’s Court
• It can inquire into complaints and take suo‐motu notice of matters relating child right violations.

More Info :

 Mica:

• India is one of the world’s largest producers of mica, with Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh being the main producing States.
• It is commonly found in igneous and metamorphic rocks.
• It possesses resistance to heat and sudden change in temperature and high dielectric strength.
• It is chemically inert, stable and does not absorb water.
• Mica is mainly used in the electrical and electronic industries.
• It is also used in the production of cosmetics and paint.
• Distribution: Mica is widely distributed in India, the minerals bearing Mica is found in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan etc.
• The main centres of mica production are Kodarma, Dhorhakola in Jharkhand and Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh etc.

9.TRIFED

Why in news?

• Amazon said it will make products from the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (Trifed) available on its global marketplace.

 About TRIFED

• It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India.
• TRIFED was established with core objective of institutionalizing the trade of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and Surplus Agriculture Produce (SAP) collected/cultivated by tribals.
• It was established in August 1987 by the then Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act 1984.
• It has a network of 31 retail outlets called “TRIBES INDIA”, 37 consignment outlets of various State Emporia and 16 franchised outlets.
• The approach of marketing development of tribal products envisages TRIFED’s role as a facilitator and service provider.
• It also works as an agency to the FCI for procurement of Wheat and Rice.

 Initiatives

 AadiMahotsav

• National Tribal Craft Expo for promoting and marketing tribal products.
• It also facilitates the participation of tribal artisans to enable them to interact directly with art lovers to assess the market needs.

 E-Tribes India

• TRIFED’s websites – www.tribesindia.com, www.trifed.in and Retail Inventory Software and Mcommerce app for marketing tribal products.

 Tribes India Banners

• Brand for marketing tribal products through e-commerce portal like Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm and GeM.
• TRIFED also organises National Tribal Craft Expo called “AADISHILP”, painting exhibition called “Aadi Chitra”, “OCTAVE” for North Eastern Artisans and Tribal Artisan Melas to facilitate the sale of their products.

10.JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN

Why in news?

• Government started Jal Shakti Abhiyan for 255 water-stressed districts from July 1.

About Jal Shakti Abhiyan

• It is an initiative to ramp up rainwater harvesting and conservation efforts in 255 water-stressed districts, in line with the government’s promise to focus on water.
• Even though water is a State issue, the campaign would be coordinated by 255 central IAS officers of Joint or Additional Secretary-rank.
• The campaign seems to follow the model of last year’s Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, where central officials monitored the implementation of seven flagship development schemes in 117 aspirational districts across the country.

The campaign would be run in two phases

• July 1 to September 15 in States receiving rainfall during the south-west monsoon.
• October 1 to November 30 in States receiving rainfall in the retreating or north-east monsoon.

 Objectives

Campaign is centered on 5 aspects

• Water conservation and rainwater harvesting
• Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks
• Reuse of water and recharging of structures such as bore well
• Watershed development
• Intensive afforestation
• These are already being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and the Integrated Watershed Management Programme of the Rural Development Ministry, along with existing water body restoration and afforestation schemes being undertaken by the Jal Shakti and Environment Ministries.
• Block and district-level water conservation plans would be drafted, and Kisan Vigyan Kendras would hold melas to promote better crop choices and more efficient water use for irrigation.

11.National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG)

Why in news?

• The Union Water Ministry has excavated an old, dried-up river in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) that linked the Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG):

• NMCG is the implementation wing of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council).
• It was established in the year 2011 as a registered society under Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• It has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee.
• Both of the tiers are headed by the Director General (DG), NMCG.
• Executive Committee is authorized to approve projects under mission up to Rs 1000 crore.

Note –In October 2016, National Ganga Council has replaced National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986.

 The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river Ganga as below; 

• National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,
• Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation),
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG),
• State Ganga Committees and 
• District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.

More information

Namami Gange Programme

• It is an Integrated Conservation Mission aims at Ganga Rejuvenation by combining the existing ongoing efforts and planning under it to create a concrete action plan for future.
• The project is officially known as Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission project.

Objectives:

• Effective abatement of pollution
• Conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.

Main pillars of the Namami Gange Programme are:

• Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure
• River-Surface Cleaning
• Afforestation
• Industrial Effluent Monitoring
• River-Front Development
• Bio-Diversity
• Public Awareness
• Ganga Gram

Ganga Gram Project:

• This project was launched recently for holistic sanitation development in villages on the banks of River Ganga. 
• These villages will set the bench mark of cleanliness and integrated effort of development.
• The objectives of Ganga Gram Project include solid and liquid waste management, renovation of ponds and water resources, water conservation projects, organic farming, horticulture, and promotion of medicinal plants.

 

12.PAHAL

Why in news?

• Estimated savings/benefits of Rs. 59,599 crore upto March, 2019 under ‘PAHAL’ scheme.

 About PAHAL

• It is an attempt to change the mechanism of transferring subsidies launched by Government of India.
• The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) or PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh) scheme was launched on June 1, 2013.
• It required the consumer to mandatorily have an Aadhaar number for availing LPG Subsidy.
• Under the modified scheme, the LPG consumer can now receive subsidy in his bank account by two methods.
• Such a consumer will be called CTC (Cash Transfer Compliant) once he joins the scheme and is ready to receive subsidy in the bank account.
• The two options are:
• Option I (Primary): The consumers need to provide their Aadhaar number to LPG distributor and to Bank.
• Option II (Secondary): If LPG consumer does not have an Aadhaar number, then he can directly receive subsidy in his bank account without the use of Aadhaar number.
• LPG consumers who do not wish to avail the LPG subsidy for LPG cylinders can simply choose to opt out of subsidy. Pricing under DBTL
• Under DBTL, once a consumer joins the scheme, he will get the cylinders at market price and will receive LPG subsidy directly in his bank account.
• A sum of Rs 568 will be paid in advance to the consumer.

13.INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)

Why in news?

• There is a proposal to increase the budgetary allocation for Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to ₹27,584 crore in 2019-20 from ₹23,357 crore in 2018-19.

 What is ICDS scheme?

• ICDS is a government programme in India which provides food, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their mothers.
• It is one of the world’s largest and unique programmes for early childhood care and development.
• It was launched in 1975 by Government of India.
• It is a response to the challenge of providing pre-school non-formal education on one hand and breaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, reduced learning capacity and mortality on the other.
• It is supported by World Bank and UNICEF among others.

Beneficiaries of the scheme

• Children in the age group of 0-6 years
• Pregnant women
• Lactating mothers

 Objectives of the scheme

• To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years;
• To lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child;
• To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school dropout;
• To achieve effective co-ordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development;
• To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.

 Services under ICDS

• The ICDS Scheme offers a package of six services, viz.
• Supplementary Nutrition
• Pre-school non-formal education
• Nutrition & health education
• Immunization
• Health check-up
• Referral services
• The last three services are related to health and are provided by Ministry/Department of Health and Family Welfare through NRHM & Health system.
• Convergence is one of the key features of the ICDS Scheme, which is in-built in the Scheme which provides a platform in the form of Anganwadi Centres for providing all services under the Scheme.

Sub-schemes

• There are 4 sub schemes under the ICDS which serves as the Umbrella scheme.

1.Anganwadi Services (ICDS)

• Aims at holistic development of children under the age of six years and its beneficiaries are children of this age group and Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers.

2. Scheme for Adolescent Girls (Sabla)

• To facilitate, educate and empower Adolescent Girls so as to enable them to become self-reliant and aware citizens.
• Through improved nutrition and health status, promoting awareness about health, hygiene, nutrition, mainstreaming out of school AGs into formal/ non formal education and providing information/guidance about existing public services.

3. Child Protection Services

• To provide safe and secure environment for children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.
• Reduce vulnerabilities through a wide range of social protection measures.
• Prevent actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children from families.
• Bring focus on non-institutional care.
• Develop a platform for partnership between Government & Civil Society.
• Establish convergence of child related social protection services.

4. National Crèche Scheme

• National Crèche Scheme is being implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through the States/UTs with effect from 01.01.2017 to provide day care facilities to children (age group of 6 months- 6 years) of working mothers.
• The Scheme provides supplementary nutrition, health care inputs like immunization, polio drops, basic health monitoring, sleeping facilities, early stimulation (below 3 years), pre-school education for 3-6 yrs.

14.MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME

Why in news?

• More than 900 children were reported ill and none of them died after consuming mid-day meals across the country in last three years, according to HRD Ministry.

 About the news

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has issued guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene in school-level kitchens to all the states and the UTs.
• The guidelines provide instructions to schools to procure AGMARK quality and branded items for preparation of mid-day meals, tasting of meals by 2-3 adult members of school management committees, including at least one teacher before serving to children.

 About the scheme

• The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
• The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government.
• It was started in 1995 as National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education.
• The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.

 Objective of mid-day meal scheme

• To enhance the enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among school going children studying in Classes I to VIII.
• They include Government, Government – aided schools, Special Training centres (STC) and Madarasas and Maktabs supported under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
• The scheme guidelines envisage to provide cooked mid-day meal with o 450 calories and 12 g of protein to every child at primary level o 700 calories and 20 g of protein at upper primary level

Side Angle

AGMARK

 About AGMARK

• AGMARK is a certification mark employed on agricultural products in India.
• It assures that they conform to a set of standards approved by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, an agency under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
• The AGMARK is legally enforced in India by the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act of 1937 (and amended in 1986).
• The AGMARK Head Office at Faridabad (Haryana).
• The present AGMARK standards cover quality guidelines for 222 different commodities spanning a variety of Pulses, Cereals, Essential Oils, Vegetable Oils, Fruits & Vegetables, and semi-processed products like Vermicelli.
• The entire system of Agmark, including the name, was created by Archibald MacDonald Livingstone, Agricultural and Marketing Advisory to the Government of India, from 1934 to 1941.

15.INVESTIGATION TRACKING SYSTEM FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES (ITSSO)

Why in news?

• Investigation into nearly half the sexual offences cases are not being completed within the stipulated 60-day period.

 About ITSSO

• The Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) is an analytics tool to monitor and track time-bound investigation of rape cases.
• It is an online module available to law enforcement agencies at all levels to undertake real-time monitoring and management for completion of investigation in rape cases in 2 months.
• It is part of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) that connects over 15,000 police stations across the country.
• ITSSO would greatly strengthen States ability for analytics and prognosis for timely investigation and prosecution in rape cases.

 About CCTNS

• The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) is a project under Indian government for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through eGovernance.
• The system includes nationwide online tracking system by integrating more than 15,000 police stations across the country.
• The project is implemented by National Crime Records Bureau.
• CCTNS aims to integrate all the data and records of crime into a Core Application Software (CAS).
• The project also involves training of police personnel and setting up of citizen portal to provide services to citizens.

16.RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH

Why in news?

• RMK has been launched to promote and support schemes for improvement of facilities for credit for women.

 About RMK

• Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) established in 1991 is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women & Child Development for socio-economic empowerment of women.
• It was registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
• The operating  model  currently followed by  RMK is that  of a  facilitating agency  wherein  RMK  provides loans to  NGO-MFIs termed as Intermediary Organizations (IMO) which on-lend to Self Help Groups (SHGs)  of women.
• RMK also  has  appointed  nodal  agencies  and  franchisees  for  furthering  of its objectives of reaching out to the women beneficiaries with easy access of micro credit for income generating activities.

 17.PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDANA YOJANA

Why in news?

• At present there is no proposal to increase the maternity benefits provided under PMMVY to PW&LM with the Ministry

About the Yojana

• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a Maternity Benefit Programme since January 2017 and is in accordance with the provision of the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• It was introduced in 2016 and is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

 It is previously known as Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) in 2010.

• It was renamed as Matritva Sahyog Yojana in 2014 and again as Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) in 2017.
• It is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for the first live birth.

 Objectives

• Providing partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentive so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first living child.
• The cash incentive provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW& LM).

 Eligibility

• Target beneficiaries of the programme include all Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers, excluding PW&LM who are in regular employment with the Central Government or the State Governments or PSUs or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being in force.
• A beneficiary is eligible to receive benefits under the scheme only once.
• In case of miscarriage/still birth, the beneficiary would be eligible to claim the remaining instalment(s) in event of any future pregnancy.
• That is, in case of infant mortality, she will not be eligible for claiming benefits under the scheme, if she has already received all the instalments of the maternity benefit under PMMVY earlier.

 Benefits under PMMVY

• Cash incentive of Rs 5000 in three instalments
• First instalment of Rs 1000/ – on early registration of pregnancy at the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) / approved Health facility as may be identified by the respective administering State / UT.
• Second instalment of Rs 2000/ – after six months of pregnancy on receiving at least one ante-natal check-up (ANC).
• Third instalment of Rs 2000/ – after child birth is registered and the child has received the first cycle of BCG, OPV, DPT and Hepatitis – B, or its equivalent/ substitute.
• The eligible beneficiaries would receive the incentive given under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) for Institutional delivery and the incentive received under JSY would be accounted towards maternity benefits so that on an average a woman gets Rs 6000

 About PMMVY

• PMMVY is implemented using the platform of Anganwadi Services scheme of ICDS under Ministry of Women and ChildDevelopment in respect of States/ UTs implementing scheme through Women and Child Development Department/ Social Welfare Department and through Health system in respect of States/ UTs where scheme is implemented by Health & Family Welfare Department.
• PMMVY is implemented through a centrally deployed Web Based MIS Software application and the focal point of implementation would be the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) and ASHA/ ANM workers.

18.SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) ACT

Why in news?

• Cases of sexual harassment at the workplace have gone up year by year since the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into effect.

About the act

• The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is a legislative act in India that seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work.
• The Act came into force 2013.
• This statute superseded the Vishakha Guidelines for prevention of sexual harassment introduced by the Supreme Court of India.
• It defines sexual harassment, lays down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken.

 What were the Vishaka guidelines?

• These were laid down by the Supreme Court in a judgment in 1997.
• This was on a case filed by women’s rights groups, one of which was Vishaka.
• They had filed public interest litigation over the alleged gang-rape of Bhanwari Devi, a social worker from Rajasthan.
• In 1992, she had prevented the marriage of a one-year-old girl, leading to the alleged gang-rape in an act of revenge.

 How does the 2013 Act broaden these?

• It mandates that every employer constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
• It lays down procedures and defines various aspects of sexual harassment, including aggrieved victim, a woman “of any age whether employed or not”, who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment”, which means the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity, are protected under the Act.

 How does it define sexual harassment?

• Physical contact and advances
• A demand or request for sexual favours
• Sexually coloured remarks
• Showing pornography
• Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature
• Additionally, the Act mentions five circumstances that amount to sexual harassment
• Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her employment
• Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment
• Implied or explicit threat about her present or future employment status
• Interference with her work or creating an offensive or hostile work environment
• Humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety

19.JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015

Why in news?

• The Mumbai city Juvenile Justice Board as well as a children’s court directed that the 17-year-old booked for the murder of his three-year-old neighbour be tried as an adult under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015.

 When is a child tried as an adult?

• The Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 was amended in 2015 with a provision allowing for Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) to be tried as adults under certain circumstances.
• The Act defines a child as someone who is under age 18.
• For a CCL, age on the date of the offence is the basis for determining whether he or she was a child or an adult.
• The amended Act distinguishes children in the age group 16-18 as a category which can be tried as adults if they are alleged to have committed a heinous offence, one that attracts a minimum punishment of seven years.
• The Act does not, however, make it mandatory for all children in this age group to be tried as adults.
• As per Section 15 of the JJ Act, there are three criteria that the Juvenile Justice Board in the concerned district should consider while conducting a preliminary assessment to determine whether the child should be tried as an adult or under the juvenile justice system, which prescribes a maximum term of three years in a special home.

The criteria are

• Whether the child has the mental and physical capacity to commit such an offence
• Whether the child has the ability to understand its consequences
• Whether the child has the ability to understand the circumstances in which the offence was committed.
• If the Board finds that the child can be tried as an adult, the case is transferred to a designated children’s court, which again decides whether the Board’s decision is correct.

 About Juvenile Justice Act

• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 came into force January 2016.
• Ministry: Ministry of Woman and Child Development

 Key Features

• Aims at ensuring protection, proper care, development and social reintegration of children in difficult circumstances by adopting a child-friendly approach
• Permits trying of juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 years as adults for heinous offences.
• Establishment of Child Welfare Committees (CWC) along with Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) in each district.
• Empowers JJB to examine the nature of crime and decide whether it was committed as a child mind or as an adult mind.
• Based upon the preliminary inquiry of JJB, juvenile offender will be either sent for rehabilitation or will be tried as an adult.
• The CWC will determine institutional care for juvenile in need of care and protection. Prescribes eligibility of adoptive parents and the procedure for adoption.
• To streamline adoption procedures for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, the existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has been given the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively.
• Penalties for cruelty against a child have been prescribed in case of offering a narcotic substance to a child and selling and abduction of a child.

20.PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETIES AND FARMERS’ RIGHTS ACT, 2001

Why in news?

• Food and beverage giant PepsiCo India has been slapped with a notice from Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority under the Agriculture Ministry regarding an application to revoke the registration of its potato variety used to make its trademark Lays chips.

 About the news

• The application to revoke PepsiCo’s registration argues that the firm violated Section 39 (1) (iv) clause of the PPV&FRA [the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001] when it sued the Gujarat potato farmers.

 About the act

The PPVFR Act was enacted to provide for

• The establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders, and
• To encourage the development and cultivation of new varieties of plants.

 Major provisions

• Right to Seed -the right of farmers to save, use, exchange or sell seed in the same manner as they were entitled to before the Act but not the seeds of protected plant varieties in branded packages.
• Right to Register Varieties–the right to obtain intellectual property rights for a plant variety which is distinct in terms of genetic uniqueness, uniformity and stability.
• National Gene Fund– provisions to establish a National Gene Fund through which the conservation of varieties developed can be done, recognized and rewarded.
• Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority – oversees the implementation of this act, maintains the register and take measures for the encouragement for the development of new varieties etc.
• Right to Information and Compensation for Crop Failure – provisions to inform the breeder about expected performance of the registered variety and compensation for farmers in the event of crop variety failure.
• Curb on Undisclosed use of Traditional Varieties– provision to compensate a community if a breeder fails to disclose that the source of a variety belongs to a particular community.

 Rights under the Act

 Breeders’ Rights

• Breeders will have exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export the protected variety.

 Researchers’ Rights

• Researcher can use any of the registered variety under the Act for conducting experiment or research.

 Farmers’ Rights

• A farmer can save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR Act, 2001 in the same manner as he was entitled before the coming into force of this Act provided farmer shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR Act, 2001.

21.NIRBHAYA FUND

Why in news?

• Only 20% of Nirbhaya Fund has been used by States until 2018.

 About the news

• The top five States ranked in terms of utilisation of money across various schemes under the Nirbhaya Fund were Chandigarh (59.83%), Mizoram (56.32%), Uttarakhand (51.68%), Andhra Pradesh (43.23%) and Nagaland (38.17%).

 About the fund

• It is a Fund for safety of women by the Central government.
• The Nirbhaya Fund was set up by the UPA-II in the aftermath of the gang rape of a paramedical student in a moving bus in New Delhi in December 2012.
• It was started with an initial corpus of ₹1,000 crore.
• The Fund supports schemes for safety of women, and over the past six years it has swelled to ₹3,600 crore through allocation in the Finance Budgets.
• It is a non-lapsable corpus fund.
• Though the Fund was instituted in 2013, its disbursement gathered pace only from 2015.
• The key schemes under which the States have been allocated money include
• Emergency Response Support System
• Central Victim Compensation Fund
• Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children
• One Stop Scheme
• Mahila Police Volunteer
• Universalisation of Women Helpline Scheme
• It is being monitored by Empowered Committee of Officers under Secretary of Women and Child Development Ministry.
• It is an inter-ministerial committee which appraises and recommends various projects (schemes) proposed by different ministries to be funded from Nirbhaya Fund.
• The Fund is administered by Department of Economic Affairs of the finance ministry.

22.Women Help Desks

Why in news

• Empowered Committee (EC) under Nirbhaya Framework appraised two proposals to develop systems for operationalization of Women Help Desks (WHDs) in police stations and expansion of Anti-Human-Trafficking-Units (AHTUs) to all districts,

Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs)

• The EC recommended the proposal for setting up AHTUs at cost of Rs. 100 crores for safety and security of women and girl victims of trafficking in all districts of States & UTs.
• 100% cost of setting up of these AHTUs has been recommended to be borne by the Central Government under Nirbhaya Fund as per the MHA proposal.
• The EC has also suggested that psycho-social counselling and legal counselling and aid should also be made available through these AHTUs to the beneficiaries.

Women Help Desks (WHDs) 

• The EC recommended the proposal for setting up Women Help Desks in Police Stations in all States and UTs at cost of Rs. 100 crores to be funded 100% by the Central Government under Nirbhaya Fund.
• WHDs would be gender sensitive desks for grievance redressal of women through the policing system.
• The EC has suggested that these Women Help Desks should preferably be headed by women police officer not below the rank of Head Constables.
• Presently, as per the proposal of MHA, WHDs have been approved for ten thousand police stations.
• MHA has also been requested to ask the States and UTs to notify Nodal Officers at District and State levels as early as possible to coordinate the functioning of the Women Help Desks.

 

 23.UNIVERSAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMME

Why in news?

• The diphtheria vaccine is among the oldest vaccines in India’s Universal Immunisation Programme, yet cases in the country have been going up over the last few years after showing a remarkable reduction in 2015.

 Background

• Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunization’ (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The first three vaccines in the programme were BCG (against TB). DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) and cholera.
• In 1985, the programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme’ (UIP) to be implemented in phased manner to cover all districts in the country by 1989-90.
• DPT continues to be a part of UIP, which now includes 12 vaccines.
• It is now incorporated as a pentavalent vaccine, (containing vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus [DPT], Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B).
• UIP aims at giving all children born in India all these 12 vaccines free.
• Despite being operational for many years, UIP has been able to fully immunize only 65% children in the first year of their life.

 About Mission Indradhanush

• It is to strengthen and re-energize the programme and achieve full immunization coverage for all children under age of 2 years and all pregnant women at a rapid pace.
• Mission Indradhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on December 25, 2014.
• It aims to accelerate the process of immunization by covering 5% and more children every year to achieve target of full coverage by 2020.

 Diseases targeted

• Initially, the 7 diseases being targeted are diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles and Hepatitis B.
• In addition to these, vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and Haemophilus influenzae type B are also being provided in selected states.
• In 2016, four new additions have been made namely Rubella, Japanese Encephalitis, Injectable Polio Vaccine Bivalent and Rotavirus.
• In 2017, Pneumonia was added to the Mission by incorporating Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine under Universal Immunization Programme.

 Intensified Mission Indradhanush

What is it?

• Intensified Mission Indradhanush is a special drive with focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018.
• The achievement of full immunisation under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was to be achieved by 2020 earlier.  With the launch of IMI, achievement of the target has now been advanced.

 Target group

• Every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme.
• Special attention will be given to unserved/low coverage pockets in sub-centre and urban slums with migratory population Implementation.
• It will have inter-ministerial and inter-departmental coordination and action-based review mechanism.
• It is supported by 11 other ministries and departments, such as Ministry of Women and Child Development, Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs among others

24.ELECTRONIC NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS (ENDS)

Why in news?

• ICMR recommends ban on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) including e-cigarettes.

 About ENDS

• ENDS are devices that heat a solution to create an aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycol and glycerin.
• There are various types of ENDS devices like e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, enicotine flavoured hookah among others.
• The most common type is an e-cigarette that produces an aerosolised mixture of the flavoured liquids and nicotine, which is inhaled by the user.

 About E-cigarette

• An electronic cigarette is a battery-operated device that emits doses of vaporized nicotine, or nonnicotine solutions, for the user to inhale.
• It simulates the feeling of tobacco smoking without smoke and doesn’t involve combustion.
• They generate an aerosol, commonly called a “vapor“, for the user to inhale.
• E- cigarette do not let off tobacco smell and do not produce ash.
• Most e-cigarettes consist of three different components:
• A cartridge, which holds a liquid solution containing varying amounts of nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals
• A heating device (vaporizer)
• A power source (usually a battery)

25.FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF INDIA (FSSAI)

Why in news?

• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the first-ever World Food Safety Day being celebrated by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

 About FSSAI

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.
• It was established in 2011.
• FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
• The FSSAI has its headquarters at New Delhi.

 Some Recent Initiative by FSSAI

Eat Right Movement

• It is a programme launched by FSSAI which aims to engage and enable citizens to improve their health and well -being by making the right food choices.
• It is platform to provide credible information to help make informed and healthful eating choices.
• The movement aims to cut down salt/sugar and oil consumption by 30% in three years.
• The movement is built on two broad pillars of ‘Eat Healthy’ and ‘Eat Safe’.
• “Eat Healthy” is about making healthy food choices.
• “Eat Safe” is about ensuring food safety from procurement to consumption and disposal of food.
• It focuses on both demand and supply sides to come together to achieve the proposed aim.
• On demand side it focuses on empowering citizens and on supply side it requests food businesses to reformulate their products to achieve the desired objective.

State Food Safety Index (SFSI)

• It is an effort to galvanize states to work towards ensuring safe food for citizens.
• FSSAI has developed the first State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of States on five parameters of food safety.
• The categories included
• Human Resources and Institutional Arrangements
• Compliance
• Food Testing, Infrastructure and Surveillance
• Training and Capacity Building
• Consumer Empowerment

Raman 1.0

• It is a new-age, hand-held battery operated device.
• This device performs rapid detection (in less than 1 minute) of economically driven adulteration in edible oils, fats and ghee.
• The equipment tests, collects and stores data on the cloud using a smart device.

Food Safety Magic Box

• It is a do-it-yourself food testing kit comprises a manual and equipment to check for food adulterants.
• The schoolchildren can use in their classroom laboratories.

Eat Right Awards

• It is to recognize the contribution of food companies and individuals to empower citizens to choose safe and healthy food options, which would help improve their health and well-being.

The Pink Book

• “The pink book: Your Guide for Safe and Nutritious Food at Home” is a guideline developed specially for kitchens in Indian homes so that the food prepared is safe, hygienic and nutritious.
• The book covers all aspects of food preparation in the kitchen and managing waste. Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test (DART) booklet
• It is a compilation of common quick tests for detection of food adulterants at household by the citizens themselves so as to induce awareness among the consumers about food safety.

 Other initiatives

• FSSAI has developed science-based standards for various categories of food products under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 in order to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food in the country.
• FSSAI has introduced +F Logo for fortified foods.
• To promote awareness among consumers on Nutrition, mandatory labelling requirements for pre-packaged foods, is prescribed.
• FSSAI has also undertaken ‘Safe and Nutritious Food (SNF)’initiative to promote awareness towards consumption of safe and nutritious food.

26.SWACHHATA PAKHWADA

Why in News?

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and institutions under it observed Swachhata Pakhwada (cleanliness fortnight) from 1st June to 15th June 2019.

 About Swachhata Pakhwada

• Swachhata Pakhwada is a campaign with the objective of bringing a fortnight of intense focus on cleanliness by engaging GOI Ministries/Departments in their jurisdictions.
• It was launched in April 2016.
• An annual calendar is pre-circulated among the Ministries to help them plan for the Pakhwada activities.
• The Ministries observing Swachhata Pakhwada are monitored closely using online monitoring system of Swachhata Samiksha.
• For the Pakhwada fortnight, observing ministries are considered as Swachhata Ministries and are expected to bring qualitative Swachhata improvements in their jurisdictions.

27.NATIONAL ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL PROGRAMME FOR FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (FMD) AND BRUCELLOSIS

Why in news?

• The Centre has approved Rs 13,343 crore for the National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis for the next five years.

About FMD Control Programme

• FMD control programme envisages 100 per cent vaccination coverage of cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs at six months interval in the entire country.
• Animals will be identified using unique animal identification ear tags.
• The programme also includes de-worming of targeted population of livestock twice a year as one of its activities.

 About FMD 

• Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is a contagious viral disease.
• It affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids.
• The virus causes a high fever for between two and six days, followed by blisters inside the mouth and on the feet that may rupture and cause lameness.
• Humans can be infected with foot-and-mouth disease through contact with infected animals, but this is extremely rare.

 About Brucellosis Control Programme

• Under Brucellosis control programme, 100 per cent vaccination coverage of female cattle and buffalo calves (4-8 months of age) once in a life time.

 About Brucellosis

• Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by genus of bacteria known as Brucella.
• It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever, and Mediterranean fever.
• The bacteria are transmitted from animals to humans by ingestion through infected food products, direct contact with an infected animal, or inhalation of aerosols.

28.PRE-CONCEPTION AND PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PROHIBITION OF SEX SELECTION) ACT OF 1994

Why in news?

• SC upholds constitutionality of Section 23 of PCPNDT Act, which ‘criminalises’ non-maintenance of medical records by doctors.

 About PCPNDT Act 1994 

 It is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India.

Salient Features

• The Act provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception.
• It regulates the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques, like ultrasound and amniocentesis by allowing them their use only to detect
• Genetic abnormalities
• Metabolic disorders
• Chromosomal abnormalities
• Certain congenital malformations
• Haemoglobinopathies
• Sex linked disorders
• No laboratory or centre or clinic shall conduct any test including ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus.
• No person will communicate the sex of the foetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives by words, signs or any other method.
• Any person who puts an advertisement for pre-natal and pre-conception sex determination facilities can be imprisoned for up to three years and fined Rs. 10,000.
• The Act mandates compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic counselling centres, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics and ultrasound clinics.
• It is for the prevention of their misuse for sex determination leading to female foeticide.

29.Community radio stations

Why in news?

• Union Minister ShriPrakashJavadekar announced that 118 new Community Radio Stations (CRS) are in the process of being set-up.

Community radio stations:

• Community Radio Stations act as essential communication channels for enhancing last mile of outreach of government.
• Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting.
• Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest.
• They broadcast content that is popular and relevant to a local, specific audience but is often overlooked by commercial or mass-media broadcasters.
• Community radio stations are operated, owned, and influenced by the communities they serve. 
• Community Radios are small (low power) FM radio stations with a coverage area of around 10-15 Km radius, depending on the geography of the area.
• CRS play a significant role in dissemination of agriculture related information, government schemes for people’s welfare, weather forecast etc. 
• As per 2019 July, Tamil Nadu has the highest number (34 stations) of operational community radio stations.

 

30.Jan Soochna Portal

News– The state government of Rajasthan launched ‘Jan Soochna Portal’.

• The portal, which has been developed by the information and technology department, will have information pertainingto 13 departments on a single platform.
• The information will also be available on self-service ‘E-Mitra Plus‘ kiosk.
• The portal has been launched under Rajasthan Innovation Vision (RAJIV) campaign.

Jaldoot

News – Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, flagged off  ‘Jaldoot’, a unique initiative that will take the message of water conservation to masses. 

• Regional Outreach Bureau (ROB), Pune has designed the bus, to create the Jaldoot : Travelling Exhibition on Jalshakti Abhiyan.

The Song &Drama Division cultural troupes and artists travelling along the bus would create awareness about the Government’s initiative.

 

31.Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme

News – A sum of Rs 170 crore was provided to 3.41 lakh ineligible persons under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme.

• The Odisha government under the Kalia scheme provides financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per family (Rs 5,000 each for the Kharif and Rabi season) to small and marginal farmers for taking up cultivation.

 

32.Poshan Abhiyaan

Why in news?

• India is unlikely to meet targets set under the ambitious Poshan Abhiyaan or National Nutrition Mission (NNM).

About the news:

• The study points out that India will miss its target for stunting levels of 25% by 9.6%; underweight target of 22.7% by 4.8%.
• Desired low birth level of 11.4% by 8.9%; anaemia level among women of 39.4% by 13.8%; and anaemia level among children of 44.7% by 11.7%, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2017.
• The report is a joint initiative of Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

POSHAN Abhiyaan:

• POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8^thMarch 2018.

• Aims– to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.
• The scheme targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
• The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.

Note – According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-2016), 38.4% of children under the age of five are stunted; 35.7% are underweight; 18% of children were born underweight (less than 2.5 kg); and 58% of children between the age of 6-59 months and 53% of women in the age of 14-49 years have anaemia.

 

33.Tobacco

Why in news?

• The Executive Director of the Tobacco Board of India cancelled a U.S. conference aimed at promoting tobacco.

More about:

• This was in contravention of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.

Tobacco in India:

• Tobacco is an important commercial crop grown in India.
• It occupies the third position in the world with an annual production of about 800 Million Kgs.
• Of the different types grown, flue-cured tobacco, country tobacco, burley, bidi, rustica and chewing tobacco are considered important.
• India stands 3rd in production of tobacco and in exports, Brazil and USA are ahead of India.

Tobacco Board:

• Tobacco Board is committed to accomplishing its role – the expressed will of parliament – for the smooth functioning of a vibrant farming system, fair and remunerative prices to tobacco growers and export promotion.
• Government of India under the Tobacco Board Act of 1975, established the Tobacco Board, in place of the Tobacco Export Promotion Council.

• The Board opened its headquarters at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• The Tobacco Board Act, 1975 aims at planned development of Tobacco Industry in the country. 

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC):

• The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO.
• The WHO FCTC was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
• India is a signatory to the convention.

Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum 2019:

• Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum 2019 is world’s leading annual forum discussing the future of the tobacco and nicotine industries.

 

34.Mukhyamantri Street Light Scheme

• Mukhyamantri Street Light Yojana’, a scheme by Delhi Government, under which over two lakh street lights are to be installed to rid the Capital of dark spots.
• The lights, which will have special sensors enabling them to turn on automatically after sunset, will be powered by electricity from domestic connections.

 

35.Water Footprint

Why in news?

• The President of India inaugurated the 6th India Water Week-2019 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

More about:

• It is being organised by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, the Ministry of Jal Shakti. 
• The theme of the India Water Week-2019 is ‘Water Cooperation – Coping with 21st Century Challenges’.

What is Water-footprint?

• The water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use.
• It can be measured for a single process, such as growing rice, for a product, such as a pair of jeans, for the fuel we put in our car, or for an entire multi-national company.

• The water footprint can also tell us how much water is being consumed by a particular country – or globally – in a specific river basin or from an aquifer.

How it is measured?

• Water footprint can be measured in cubic metres per tonne of production, per hectare of cropland, per unit of currency and in other functional units as per the situation.
• The water footprint helps us understand for what purposes our limited freshwater resources are being consumed and polluted.

Different types:

• Green water footprint is water from precipitation that is stored in the root zone of the soil and evaporated, transpired or incorporated by plants.
• Blue water footprint is water that has been sourced from surface or groundwater resources and is either evaporated or incorporated into a product.
• Grey water footprint is the amount of fresh water required to assimilate pollutants to meet specific water quality standards.

Water Footprint Network:

• The Water Footprint Network is a platform for collaboration between companies, organizations and individuals to solve the world’s water crises by advancing fair and smart water use.

 

36.Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative

• Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative – a nationwide effort in which LSSC will support the cobbler community who provide leather-based services, with CSR funds ensuring they work in a dignified manner.
• Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC): It is an NSDC approved non-profit organization dedicated to meet the demand for skilled workforce in the leather industry in India.

 

37.10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy

Why in news?

• The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI launched the 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029).

Background:

• It focus on sustaining the sanitation behavior change that has been achieved under the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), ensuring that no one is left behind.
• It also aims at increasing access to solid and liquid waste management.
• Since the launch of the SBM-G in 2014, over 10 crore toilets have been built in rural areas.
• Over 5.9 lakh villages, 699 districts, and 35 States/UTs have declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF).

10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy:

• The strategy has been prepared by DDWS, in consultation with State Governments and other stakeholders.
• It lays down a framework to guide local governments, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders in their planning for ODF Plus, where everyone uses a toilet, and every village has access to solid and liquid waste management.
• The strategy focuses on the need for States to continue their efforts to sustain the gains of the SBM-G through
• Capacity strengthening
• IEC (Information, education and communication)
• Organic waste management
• Plastic waste management
• Grey water management and Black water management.
• The strategy also speaks about potential collaborations with development partners, civil society and inter-government partnerships.
• It also highlights innovative models for sanitation financing.

 

38.TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign

Why in news?

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched the new TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign, along with the National TB Prevalence Survey. 

TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign:

• India is targeting a TB-free India by 2025, much ahead of the global target of 2030.
• The new TB campaign aims to improve and expand the reach of TB care services across the country, by 2022.
• This includes preventive and promotive approaches, and proposes potentially transformative interventions such as engagement with private sector health care providers, corporate sector engagement, and community engagement. 

Best performers in tackling TB:

• Among states with a large population (>50 lakhs), Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were awarded as best performers.
• Tripura and Sikkim were recognized for their efforts among medium population (less than 50 lakhs) states.
• Puducherry, and Daman and Diu were judged as the best performers among Union Territories.

Policy initiatives by government tackling TB:

• These results in an increase in the number of cases reported to the government.
• In 2018, 21.5 lakh TB cases were reported to the government, compared to 18 lakhs in 2017, an increase of 17% in one year.
• The Government of India has partnered with the Global Fund to launch JEET (Joint Effort for Elimination of TB), a private sector engagement program operating in 45 cities across the country.
• In April 2018, the government launched the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to provide nutritional support to TB patients.
• Under the scheme, TB patients have been receiving Rs. 500 per month for the entire duration of treatment.

 

39.National Nutrition Survey

Why in news?

• The first-ever national nutrition survey conducted by the Centre, yet to be made public.

National Nutrition Survey:

• The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF.
• To measure malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies through biochemical measures such as blood and urine samples, anthropometric data as well as details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents.
• The National Family Health Survey (NFHS), collects anthropometric data to measure prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight and household dietary intake to measure deficiencies.

Key Findings:

• Nearly 10% of children in the age group of 5-9 years and adolescents in the age group of 10-19 years are pre-diabetic, 5% are overweight and another 5% suffer from blood pressure.
• A quarter of 5-9 and 10-19 year-olds were thin for their age, one in five children 5-9 years’ old were stunted.

 

40.Mo Sarkar Initiative

• Initiative by Odisha Government.
• The objective of the ‘MoSarkar’ programme is to pro­vide service with dignity to people who are coming to government offices for different purposes.

 

 

41.Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan

Why in news?

• Harsh Vardhan inaugurates 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) and launched a new initiative – ‘Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)’ for Zero Preventable Maternal and Newborn Deaths at the event.

Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)

What is the scheme?

• Aiming zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths in India, the central government launched the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) scheme.

Beneficiaries:

• Pregnant women, mothers up to 6 months after delivery, and all sick newborns will be able to avail free healthcare benefits.

More about:

• The scheme will largely help in bringing down maternal and infant mortality rates in the country. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries visiting public health facilities are entitled to several free services.
• These includes at least four ante natal check-ups, Iron Folic Acid supplementation, Tetanus diptheria injection and other components of comprehensive ANC package and six home-based newborn care visits.
• Under the scheme there will be zero expense access to identification and management of complications during and after the pregnancy.
• The government will also provide free transport from home to health institutions.

More Information:

• According to government, India’s maternal mortality rate has declined from 254 per 1,00,000 live births in 2004-06 to 130 in 2014-16. Between 2001 and 2016, the infant mortality rate came down from 66 per 1,000 live births to 34.

Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW)

• The Council of Health and Family Welfare is an apex advisory body to consider and recommend broad lines of policy in regard to matters concerning Health and Family Welfare, in all its aspects. 
• Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare is the Chairperson, while Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare is the Vice-Chairperson.
• Members of Parliament, members of NITI Ayog, Eminent Individuals are also included in the Council.

 

42.SARAS Aajeevika Mela

Why in news?

• SARAS Aajeevika Mela to be held at India Gate Lawns.

SARAS Aajeevika Mela

• SARAS Aajeevika Mela is an initiative by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India.

• It aims to bring the rural women Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed with support of DAY-NRLM, under one platform to show-case their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with bulk buyers.
• Through participation in SARAS Aajeevika Mela, these rural SHG women get vital national level exposure to understand the demand and taste of urban customers.
• The Mela is organized by the marketing arm of the Ministry, Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).
• A live performance by all SHG women’s musical troupes Chendamelam from Kerala, Ghoomar from Rajasthan, tribal dance and nukkad natak from Jharkhand, Cheraw (Bamboo dance) from Mizoram and Gidda from Punjab will be show-cased.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

• Aajeevika – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India in June 2011. 
• Aided in part through investment support by the World Bank, the Mission aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor enabling them to increase household income.
• NRLM set out with an agenda to cover 7 Crore rural poor households, across 600 districts in the country through self-managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and federated institutions and support them for livelihoods collectives in a period of 8-10 years.
• In November 2015, the program was renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM).

 

43.Food Safety Mitra scheme

Why in news?

• To mark the occasion of world food day 2019, Union Health Minister launched the ‘Food Safety Mitra (FSM)’ scheme, along with the ‘Eat Right Jacket’, and ‘Eat Right Jhola’ to strengthen food safety administration and scale up the ‘Eat Right India’ movement.

More about

• World food day is observed on 16^th October by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• The theme for this day was ‘Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World’.

Food Safety Mitra scheme

• It will support small and medium scale food businesses to comply with the food safety laws.
• It facilitate licensing and registration, hygiene ratings and training.
• Apart from strengthening food safety, this scheme would also create new employment opportunities for youth, particularly with food and nutrition background.
• The FSMs would undergo training and certification by FSSAI to do their work and get paid by food businesses for their services.

Eat Right Jacket

• The ‘Eat Right Jacket’ will be used by the field staff.
• This jacket has a smart design to hold tech devices like tablets/smart phone, a QR code and RFID tag for identification and tracking.
• Apart from providing safety to field staff on duty, this would bring in efficiency, professionalism and transparency in food safety administration and bring in a sense of ownership & visibility of FSOs.  

Eat Right Jhola

• The ‘Eat Right Jhola’, a reusable cloth bag shall replace plastic bags for grocery shopping in various retail chains.
• Since on repeated use, bags are often contaminated with microorganisms and bacteria, proper and regular washing of cloth bags is essential to ensure safety and hygiene.

Eat Right India movement

• It is voluntary and collaborative movement built on two broad pillars – “Eat Healthy and “Eat Safe” by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
• It is collective effort to encourage people towards making right food and dietary choices.
• It focuses on both sides- demand and supply side to come together.

 

44.GOAL (Going Online as Leaders)

• Union Minister of Tribal Affair announced the second phase of GOAL (Going Online as Leaders), a Facebook program aimed at inspiring, guiding and encouraging tribal girls from across India to become village-level digital young leaders for their communities.
• GOAL connects underprivileged young tribal women with senior expert mentors in the areas of business, fashion and arts to learn digital and life skills.

 

45.Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report

Why in news?

• The tuberculosis incidence rate in India has decreased by almost 50,000 patients over the past one year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)-2019 edition of the Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report.

 About The Report- 2019

• TB remains the top infectious killer in the world claiming over 4,000 lives a day.
• It notes that in 2017, India had 27.4 lakh TB patients which came down to 26.9 lakh in 2018.
• In India, Incidence per 1, 00,000 populations have decreased from 204 in 2017 to 199 in 2018.
• The number of patients being tested for rifampicin resistance (drug resistance) has increased from 32% in 2017 to 46% in 2018.

• Treatment success rate has increased to 81% for new and relapse cases (drug sensitive) in 2017.
• It also notes that India is closest ever to covering all TB cases through the online notification system (NIKSHAY)

Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report

• It is an annual report published by World Health Organization (WHO).
• The main aim of the report is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels.
• It features data on disease trends and the response to the epidemic in 202 countries and territories.
• It includes trends in TB incidence and mortality, data on case detection and treatment results for TB, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), TB/HIV, TB prevention, universal health coverage as well as financing.

Tuberculosis

• It is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.
• TB is spread from person to person through the air.
• Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.

 

46.National Pension Scheme

Why in news

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have now permitted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to enroll in National Pension Scheme (NPS) at par with Non-Resident Indians.

National Pension Scheme: Background

• NPS was initially notified for central government employees joining service on or after 1st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees.
• NPS was extended to all citizens of India including unorganized sector workers on voluntary basis from May 2009 and to corporates in December 2011 and to Non-Resident Indians in October 2015.
• As on 26th October 2019, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 3.18 crores.

Recent changes:

• PFRDA permitted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to enroll in National Pension Scheme
• In the Union Budget 2019, the tax exemption limit for lump sum withdrawal on exit/maturity from NPS has been increased from the present 40% to 60%.
• And the remaining 40% of the corpus is already tax-exempt as it is mandatorily utilized for annuity purchase.
• Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till the age of 65

More features:

• The subscriber will be allotted a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN).
• This number will remain the same for the rest of subscriber’s life and can be used from any location in India.
• PRAN will provide access to two personal accounts:
• Tier I Account: This is a non-withdraw able account meant for savings for retirement.
• Tier II Account: This is simply a voluntary savings facility. The subscriber is free to withdraw savings but no tax benefit is available on this account.

About PFRDA:

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is a statutory Authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies.

National Health Profile

• Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the 14thNational Health Profile (NHP) 2019.
• The NHP is prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) and covers comprehensive information on demographic, socio-economic health status, health finance indicators, health infrastructure and health of human resources in the country.

 

47.Child Well-Being Index

Why in News 

• Child well-being index, a tool designed to measure and track children’s well-being comprehensively has been released.

Information

• The report released by the non-government organisation World Vision India and research institute IFMR LEAD.
• The report is an attempt to look at how India fairs on child well-being using a composite child well-being index.
• The India child well-being index is a crucial report that can be mined both by the Government and civil organisations to achieve the goal of child well-being and we will use this report effectively.
• This report provides insights on health, nutrition, education, sanitation and child protection.
• The dimensions of the index include healthy individual development, positive relationships and protective contexts.
• Focusing on the three key dimensions, 24 indicators were selected to develop the computation of the child well-being index.
• The report highlights the multi-dimensional approach towards measuring child well-being — going beyond mere income poverty.

Performance of the states:

• Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry topped the charts in the child well-being index.
• Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh featured at the bottom.
• Among the Union Territories, Puducherry led the way and Dadra and Nagar Haveli featured at the other end.
• Kerala bagged the top spot due to its exceptional performance in health, nutrition and education facilities.
• Kerala also performed better in addressing malnutrition and ensuring child survival and access to a healthy environment in terms of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.

 

48.Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019

Why in News

• Parliament approves bill providing death penalty for sexual assault against children. The Bill amends the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

 

49.‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon

Why in News

• The government has called for applications for its latest initiative under the Swachh Bharat Mission, called the ‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon, an initiative to ease lives of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) by making toilets smarter, more accessible, and easier to use.
• In this hackathon, the government is looking for smart, scalable and innovative solutions for economical toilets for individual and community use in rural and urban contexts.

Information

• The initiative is being organized jointly by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and 91springboard.
• The Hackathon invites researchers, start-ups, student innovators, technology enthusiasts, and industry experts to participate.
• This hackathon is a great opportunity to win exciting prizes and get handholding and mentoring support by ministry, industry experts and ecosystem enablers.

 

50.Women Transforming India Awards

Why In News

• The NITI Aayog will launch the Fourth Edition of Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards in the capital.
• NITI Aayog has launched a Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) for providing an ecosystem for budding & existing women entrepreneurs across the country. SIDBI has partnered with NITI Aayog to assist in this initiative.
• As an enabling platform, WEP is built on three pillars- Iccha Shakti, Gyaan Shakti & Karma Shakti
• Iccha Shakti represents motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their business
• Gyaan Shakti represents providing knowledge and ecosystem support to women entrepreneurs to help them foster entrepreneurship
• Karma Shakti represents providing hands-on support to entrepreneurs in setting-up and scaling up businesses.

Benefits & Highlights

• In addition to providing services such as free credit ratings, mentorship, funding support to women entrepreneurs, apprenticeship and corporate partnerships.
• WEP will encourage entrepreneurs to share their entrepreneurial journeys, stories & experiences to nurture mutual learning.
• WEP platform, as a driver of change, will also promote offline initiatives and outreach programmes to promote entrepreneurial spirit among potential women entrepreneurs, in collaboration with partner organizations.
• Also, WEP offers incubation and acceleration support to women founded / co-founded startups through its various partners who handhold women entrepreneurs registered with WEP and provide them necessary support to help them start and scale-up.

Eligibility

• Women Entrepreneurs who are at ideation stage, have just started off with thieir startups or are an established startup can register under the scheme to take the benefit.
• Corporates, NGOs, research organisations, Incubator, Accelerator, etc. who can provide support in any form to the the women entrepreneurs

 

51.Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

Why in News

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has extended the last date of receipt of applications for the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar – 2020.

About the award

• Prahan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar instituted by WCD Ministry to felicitate meritorious children, individuals and institutions of the country is given under two categories i.e., Bal Shakti Puraskar and Bal Kalyan Puraskar.
• The Bal Shakti Puraskar aims to give recognition to children who have made extraordinary achievements in various fields including innovation, scholastic, sports, art and culture, social service and bravery.
• The Bal Kalyan Puraskar is given as recognition to individuals and institutions, who have made an outstanding contribution towards service for children in the field of child development, child protection and child welfare.

 

52.‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon

Why in News

• Design for Divyangjan-accessible toilets showcased in ‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon.

Information

• Participants of the ‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon came up with thought-provoking ideas for accessible toilets for the physically challenged (Divyangjans).

About the ‘San-Sadhan’ Hackathon:

• It was organized jointly by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission and NITI Aayog. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 91springboard were also part of this initiative.
• This was an initiative under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
• Applications were invited for designs that make toilets smarter, more accessible, and easier to use.
• The government said that it was looking for smart, scalable and innovative solutions for economical toilets for individual and community use in rural and urban contexts.
• Three innovators were selected winners from the shortlisted 21 applications.

 

53.Saharia children battle malnutrition

Why in News

• Acute malnutrition among Saharia tribes is continuing to take away lives.

Saharia Tribes:

• Saharias are a particularly vulnerable tribal group.
• The Saharia are an ethnic group in the state of Madhya Pradesh
• They are also found in Baran district of Rajasthan.
• The tribe members believe in Folk Hinduism’s gods and goddess that they worship.
• The Sahariya tribe health is very poor. There is a prevalence of malnutrition and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Information

• There is prevalence of superstitious beliefs among the tribe, such as a newborn has to be fed jaggery syrup or honey, as the first milk is impure because it is extracted from breasts after nine long months.
• According to the National Family Health Survey 2014-2015, just 43.2% of children under three were breastfed within the first hour of their birth in rural parts of Sheopur district.
• Seasonal migration also affects children, especially girls, as parents mostly take them along with them to fields where they are neglected, wander under the sun, don’t get food, and contract diseases easily during the monsoon.
• An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study revealed that, among Saharias, TB prevalence is an alarming 1,995 per 1,00,000 persons.
• It is opined that higher incidence of tuberculosis among Saharias is linked to the high malnutrition level among them and vice versa.

54.Himayat Mission

Why in news

• 42 projects under Himayat Mission sanctioned in J&K.

Himayat Mission:

• Initiative of Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• Implemented by Jammu & Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI) Ahmedabad, as coordinating /monitoring agency.
• It aims at providing entrepreneurial skills for sustainable livelihood to 10,000 youth of J&K and facilitates access to finance and support services to at least 50% of them over a period of 3.5 Years.
• The project aims to generate sustainable livelihood opportunities through self-employment for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir by the crosscutting approaches of holistic entrepreneurship development programs.
• The candidate’s education qualification should be 8th or above, within the age group of 18-35 years and must be a permanent resident of the state of J&K.

Note – Himayat is under implementation in the State (Jammu and Kashmir) since 2011.

• The Programme was recommended by C. Rangarajan Committee report in 2011.

 

55.Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)&Sample Registration System (SRS)

Why in news

• Maternal death rate declining: report

More about report

• A decline of 8 points (2%) was observed during this period, according to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) 2015-2017 bulletin for MMR.
• India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has seen a decline from 130 per 1 lakh live births in 2014-2016 to 122 per 1 lakh live births in 2015-2017.
• India has averted nearly 2,000 maternal deaths per year.
• Karnataka has shown the highest percentage decline in MMR, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have shown an increase by 15 points each in MMR.

Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)

• The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is the ratio of the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time-period.
• A maternal death refers to a female death from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes) during pregnancy and childbirth or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy.
• Maternal mortality reduction remains a priority under “Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda through 2030.
• It targets to reduce the global Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
• In India National Health Policy–2017 targets MMR 100 per lakh live births by 2020.

Sample Registration System (SRS)

• The Sample Registration System (SRS) is a large-scale demographic survey for providing reliable annual estimates of Infant mortality rate,birth rate, death rate,Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and other fertility &mortality indicators at the national and subnational levels.
• It is released by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
• The field investigation consists of continuous enumeration of births and deaths in selected sample units by resident part time enumerators, generally anganwadi workers &teachers, and an independent survey every six months by SRS supervisors.
• The sample unit in rural areas is a village or a segment of it (if the village population is 2000 or more).
• In urban areas, the sampling unit is a census enumeration block with population ranging from 750 to 1000.
• The SRS sample is replaced every ten years based on the latest census frame.
• The current Sample is based on the 2011 Census frame.

 

56.Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)

Why in news

• India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has seen a decline.

Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN):

• It was launched by Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare.
• It aims to provide dignified and quality health care at no cost to every woman and newborn visiting a public health facility.
• Under the scheme, the beneficiaries visiting public health facilities are entitled to several free services.
• These include at least four ante natal check-ups that also include one checkup during the 1st trimester, at least one checkup under Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, Iron Folic Acid supplementation, Tetanus diphtheria injection.
• All pregnant women, new borns and mothers up to 6 months of delivery will be able to avail several free health care services.

Benefits under the scheme:

• The scheme will enable zero expense access to the identification and management of complications during and after the pregnancy.
• The government will also provide free transport to pregnant women from home to the health facility and drop back after discharge (minimum 48 hrs).
• The pregnant women will be able to avail a zero expense delivery and C-section facility in case of complications at public health facilities.
• The scheme will ensure that there is zero-tolerance for denial of services to such patients

 

57.Social Audit

Why in news?

• In line with Government’s objective of bringing Good Governance through Transparency, Participation and Accountability in all Government Schemes, Ministry of Rural Development has decided to institutionalize social audits in its major schemes.

More about

• To begin with, Social Audit Guidelines have been released for National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana –Grameen (PMAY-G).
• Ministry of Rural Development also released the report ‘Status of Social Audits in India’.

What is social audit?

• Social Audit is recognized by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), as a powerful tool to enforce transparency and accountability.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was the first Act to mandate Social Audits by the Gram Sabha of all the projects taken up in the Gram Panchayat.
• According to MGNREGA act, 2005: ‘The Gram Sabha Shall Conduct Regular Social Audits of all the Projects under the scheme taken up within the Gram Panchayat’. 
• MGNREGA Audit of Schemes Rules was passed by the Central Government, in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) in 2011. 

Front runner states in social audit programme

• Meghalaya Legislature has enacted ‘The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017’ which mandates social audit in 26 different schemes in Education, Health, Rural Development and other areas.
• Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) audits are done in Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal.
• National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) audits are done in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

 

58.Water Quality Report for State Capitals & Delhi

Why in news

• Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan releases Water Quality Report for State Capitals & Delhias analysed by BIS.

More about

• This is in line with Jal Jeevan Mission, announced by Prime Minister which aims to provide tap water to all households by 2024.
• In the first phase, the samples of drinking water were drawn from various locations across Delhi and in the second phase samples were drawn from 20 State capitals and sent for testing as per Indian Standard 10500:2012 (Specification for Drinking Water) as set by the BIS.
• Union Government wants to make BIS Standards mandatory for Tap Water so as to ensure quality drinking water for all households.

What the report says?

• Tests were conducted on various parameters such as Organoleptic and Physical Tests, Chemical test, Toxic substances and Bacteriological tests in the first stage.
• A vast majority of the samples have failed to comply with the requirements of IS 10500:2012 in one or more parameters.
• All the samples drawn from Mumbai were found to comply with the requirements.
• None of the samples drawn from 13 of the State Capitals including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram complied with the requirements of the Indian Standard.

Top ranked cities in Water quality

1. Mumbai
2. Hyderabad
3. Bhubaneswar
4. Ranchi
5. Raipur

59.IMD World Talent Ranking Report

Why in news

• IMD World Talent Ranking Report released, India has slipped 6 places.

IMD World Talent Ranking;

• It is released annually by International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
• The ranking, which is based on the performance in three main categories — investment and development, appeal and readiness.
• Top in the list Switzerland.

About India:

 India has slipped 6 places to 59 ranks on a global annual list of 63 countries due to low quality of life and expenditure on education.

• BRICS countries: India is also lagging behind fellow BRICS countries – China ranked 42nd, Russia (47th) and South Africa (50th).
• India also witnessed one of the sharpest declines among Asian economies owing to low quality of life, negative impact of brain drain, and the low priority of its economy on attracting and retaining talents.
• The factors include expenditure on education (per student) and the quality of education which may be linked to the GDP growth.
• The effectiveness of the health system and women’s participation in the labour force.

 

60.Road Accidents in India, 2018

Why in news?

• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has released the report on ‘Road Accidents in India, 2018’.

More about

• It is an annual publication brought out by the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways which reports on accidents, related deaths and injuries, calendar year-wise, based on information supplied by the Police Departments of States and UTs.

Major findings of the Report:

• As per the Report, Road accidents in the country have increased marginally by 0.46 % during 2018.
• National Highways which comprise of 1.94 percent of total road network, accounted for 2 per cent of total road accidents and 35.7 per cent of deaths in 2018.
• State Highways which account for 2.97% of the road length accounted for 2 percent and 26.8 percent of accidents and deaths respectively. 
• During 2018, like the previous two years, young adults in the age group of 18 – 45 years accounted for nearly 69.6 percent of road accident victims.
• The working age group of 18 – 60 accounted for a share of 84.7 percent in the total road accident deaths.
• The share of males in number of total accident deaths was 86% while the share of females hovered around 14% in 2018.
• Under the category of Traffic Rule Violations, over speeding is a major killer, accounting for 64.4% of the persons killed followed by driving on the wrong side of the road which accounted for 5.8% of the accident related deaths.
• Use of mobile phones accounted for 2.4% of the deaths with drunken driving accounting for 2.8% of the persons killed.

 

61.Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports

Why in news

• The Information regarding Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports was given by the Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports:

• The ‘Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports’ was launched in October, 2017.
• It aims to strengthen the entire sports ecosystem to promote the twin objectives of mass participation and promotion of excellence in sports across the country.
• Khelo India Scheme was approved for three years i.e., from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
• All the verticals of Khelo India Scheme focus on broad-basing of sports amongst the youth of the country.

Major objectives:

• Play Field Development
• Utilization and Creation of Sports Infrastructure
• State Level Khelo India Centers
• Annual Sports Competitions
• Support to National/Regional/State Sports Academies
• Promotion of Sports among persons with disabilities
• Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games
• Physical Fitness of School going Children

 

62.One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme

Why in news

• The Government of India is implementing One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme for setting up One Stop Centre since 1st April 2015 to support women affected by violence.

One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme

• It is a sub – scheme of Umbrella Scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyaog Yojana.
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme
• It is popularly known as Sakhi.
• It comes under Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)
• Under the scheme, One Stop Centres are being established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces in phased manner.
• The OSC will support all women including girls below 18 years of age affected by violence, irrespective of caste, class, religion, region, sexual orientation or marital status.
• The Scheme will be funded through Nirbhaya Fund. The Central Government will provide 100% financial assistance to the State Government /UT Administrations under the Scheme.
• The Centres will be integrated with a Women Helpline to facilitate access to following services:

• Emergency response and rescue services.
• Medical assistance.
• Assistance to women in lodging the FIR.
• Psycho- social support and counseling.
• Legal aid and counseling.
• Video conferencing facility.

 

63.Population Control

Why in news

• The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), stated in the Lok Sabha about various steps taken by Government for population control.

More about:

• As a result of these efforts, the country is knocking on the door of replacement level fertility and is on track to achieve TFR 2.1 by 2025.

Achievements:

• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined to 2.2 (SRS 2017).
• The Crude Birth Rate has declined from 23.8 to 20.2 from 2005 to 2017 (SRS).
• The Teenage birth rate has halved from 16% (NFHS III) to 8% (NFHS IV).

Steps being taken by the government for population control:

• Mission Parivar Vikas- the Government has launched Mission Parivar Vikas for substantially increasing access to contraceptives and family planning services in146 high fertility districts with Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 3 and above in seven high focus states.
• Family Planning Logistic Management and Information System (FP-LMIS): dedicated software to ensure smooth forecasting, procurement and distribution of family planning commodities across all the levels of health facilities.
• National Family Planning Indemnity Scheme (NFPIS) under which clients are insured in the eventualities of death, complication and failure following sterilization.
• Ensuring quality of care in Family Planning services by establishingQuality Assurance Committees in all states and districts.
• Improved Demand generation activities through a 360 degree media campaign.

Total Fertility Rate: 

• The Total Fertility Rate(TFR) is a standard demographic indicator used internationally to estimate the average number of children that a woman would have over her childbearing years (i.e. age 15-49), based on current birth trends.

 

64.Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

Why in news

• Jammu and Kashmir completes highest 11,400 km road length under PMGSY in 2019.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY):

• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme to provide all-weather access to unconnected habitations.
• In rural areas it would be given to habitation with population of 500 persons and above (in plain areas) and 250 persons and above (in Hilly States, desert Areas, Tribal areas and select Tribal and Backward Districts).
• The unit for this Programme is a Habitation and not a Revenue village or a Panchayat.
• A Habitation is a cluster of population, living in an area, the location of which does not change over time.
• The PMGSY shall cover only the rural areas.
• Union Ministry of Rural Development is nodal ministry for implementation of Scheme
• The scheme encourages use of “Green Technologies” and non-conventional materials for constructing rural roads.

PMGSY – Phase II:

• The Phase II of PMGSY was approved during May, 2013. 
• For the 12th Five Year Plan period a target of 50,000 Km length under PMGSY-II.

PMGSY – Phase III:

• The Phase III was approved by the Cabinet in July 2019.
• It involves consolidation of Through Routes and Major Rural Links connecting habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals.
• Under the PMGSY-III Scheme, it is proposed to consolidate 1, 25,000 Km road length in the States.
• The duration of the scheme is 2019-20 to 2024-25.

 

65.Survey of Persons with Disabilities

Why in news?

• The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has conducted aSurvey of Persons with Disabilities during July 2018 to December 2018 as a part of 76^th round of National Sample Survey (NSS).

Major Findings of the survey:

Prevalence and incidence of disability

• In India prevalence of disability (percentage of persons with disability in the population) was 2.2%, with 2.3% in rural and 2.0% in urban areas.
• Prevalence of disability was higher among males than females. Among males, prevalence of disability was 2.4% while it was 1.9% among females.
• Incidence of disability in the population, that is the number of persons with onset of disability (by birth or otherwise) during 365 days preceding the date of survey was 86 per 100,000 persons.

Level of education among persons with disabilities

• Among persons with disabilities of age 7 years and above, 2% were literate.

 Labour Force Participation Rate

• Among persons with disabilities of age 15 years and above, Labour Force Participation Rate in usual status was 8%.

 

66.National Child Labour Project

Why in news?

• This informations about National Child Labour Project was given by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

National Child Labour Project

• The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme.
• Under this Scheme the District Project Societies (DPS) are set up at the district level under the Chairmanship of the Collector/District Magistrate for overseeing the implementation of the project.
• Under this Scheme, the children in the age group of 9-14 years are withdrawn from work and put into NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend, health care etc.
• Before being mainstreamed into formal education system, The children in the age group of 5-8 years are directly linked to the formal education system through a close coordination with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

PENCiL Portal

• A dedicated online portal named PENCiL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) is developed in order to make the NCLP successful through better monitoring and implementation ensuring the timely disposal of work with transparency.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED)

• It was established in 1958, is registered under the Multi State Co-operative Societies Act.
• It was setup with the object to promote Co-operative marketing of Agricultural Produce to benefit the farmers.
• Composition: Agricultural farmers are the main members of NAFED, who have the authority to say in the form of members of the General Body in the working of NAFED.

 

67.Going Online as Leaders (GOAL)

Why in news?

• The information regarding GOAL Project was given by Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

Going Online as Leaders

• GOAL (Going Online as Leaders) is a digitally-enabled mentorship initiative of Facebook for empowering tribal youth to become leaders for tomorrow in the respective fields.
• GOAL Project is stated to aim at identifying and mobilizing renowned people from industry (policy makers and influencers), known for their leadership skills or roles, to digitally empower and personally mentor tribal youth from tribal communities across multiple locations of India. The initiative has been designed to identify and attach 1 Mentor who is expert in their respective fields, to four tribal youth, who will be trained and mentored.
• Facebook had started a pilot project on its own in March 2019 in 5 states of India i.e. Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, wherein they have identified 100 Tribal Mentees and 25 Mentors.
• Further, Facebook envisages to identify 5000 tribals from various fields to be mentored by 1250 mentors in 5 years in a phased manner.
• GOAL (Going Online as Leaders) is a Facebook initiative.
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs was not associated with the pilot project implemented by the Facebook.

 

68.Jaga Mission

Why in news?

• Odisha bags World Habitat Awardfor Jaga Mission.

• World habitat award is given by World Habitat, a UK-based organization, in partnership with UN-Habitat, every year, in recognition of innovative, outstanding, and revolutionary ideas, projects, and programmes from across the world.

Jaga Mission:

• Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission (OLHM) – JAGA is a society under the Housing & Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha.
• It aims at transforming the slums into liveable habitat with all necessary civic infrastructure and services at par with the better off areas within the same urban local body and to continuously improve the standard of the infrastructure and services and access to livelihood opportunities.
• The slum land titling mission was being executed in collaboration with Tata Trusts and Norman Foster Foundation.
• Odisha government rolled out this first of its kind project on May 7, 2018.
• This mission was also awarded the ‘India Geospatial Excellence Award’ for technological innovation in transforming the lives of urban poor.

 

United Nations Habitat or United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat):

• It is the United Nations agency for human settlements.
• It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
• It was established in 1978 as an outcome of the first UN Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat- I) held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976.
• UN-Habitat is headquartered at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.

 

69.Accessible India Campaign

Why in news

• Targets missed, Accessible India campaign’s deadline extended.

Accessible India Campaign

• It is the nationwide flagship campaign of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• It aims to make a barrier free and conducive environment for Divyangjans all over the country.
• The campaign has the vision to build an inclusive society in which equal opportunities are provided for the growth and development of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) so that they can lead productive, safe and dignified lives.
• It has the following three important components :

Built Environment accessibility

• Enhancing the proportion of accessible government buildings.

Transportation System Accessibility

• Enhancing proportion of accessible airports.
• Enhancing the proportion of accessible railway stations.
• Enhancing the proportion of accessible Public Transport.

Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility

• Enhancing proportion of accessible and usable public documents and websites that meet internationally recognized accessibility standards.
• Enhancing the pool of sign language interpreters.
• Enhancing the proportion of daily captioning and sign-language interpretation of public television news programmes.

• Accessible India Campaign is in line with the Article 9 of UNCRPD (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) to which India is a signatory since 2007.
• Incheon Strategy to ‘Make the Right Real ‘for PwDs in Asia and Pacific
• It provides the Asian and Pacific Region, and the world the first set of regionally agreed distinct – inclusive development goals.

 

70.Gender Gap Index 

Why in news?

• India is 112th in WEF rankings on gender gap.

Gender Gap Index:

• The Global Gender Gap Index is an index designed to measure gender equalityin the major and emerging economies.
• Released annually by World Economic Forum.
• WEF had published its first gender gap report in 2006, when India was ranked relatively higher at 98th place.
• The Global Gender Gap Report benchmarks 149 countries on their progress towards gender parity across four thematic dimensions:
• Economic Participation and Opportunity,
• Educational Attainment,
• Health and Survival and
• Political Empowerment.

Global Findings:

• Iceland remains the world’s most gender-neutral country.
• Yemen is ranked the worst (153rd), while Iraq is 152nd and Pakistan 151st.
• China ranked 106th, Bangladesh – 50th, Brazil – 92nd, Nepal – 101st, Indonesia – 85th and Sri Lanka – 102nd.

From the Index:

• The political gender gap will take 95 years to close, compared to 107 years last year.
• The WEF said economic opportunities for women are extremely limited in India (35.4 per cent), Pakistan (32.7 per cent).

About India:

• India slips to 112th rank.
• India has moved down the ladder from its 108th position last year.
• As per the report India was ranked in bottom-five in terms of survival and economic participation.
• India slipped to 150^thrank in health and survival, 149^th in economic participation, 112^th in educational attainment. India improved to 18^th place in terms of political empowerment.

 

71.Kaleshwaram Lift Irriga­tion Project (KLIP)

Why in news?

• The Telangana govern­ment has once again re­quested the Centre to treat Kaleshwaram Lift Irriga­tion Project (KLIP) as a Na­tional Project.

Kaleshwaram project:

• The project aims to irrigate 45 lakh acres of land for two crops in a year and meet the drinking water requirement of 70% of the state.
• The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, to harness the flood waters of the Godavari, is aimed at making Telangana drought-proof.
• The project seeks to divert 180 TMC of Godavari flood water first to Sripada Sagar Yellampalli barrage and then to Mallanna Sagar from the Pranahita confluence point.
• The Kaleshwaram project will support Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha schemes designed to provide drinking water to many villages and improve the capacities of tanks.

Mission Kakatiya:

• Mission Kakatiya is the Telangana government’s flagship programme aimed at restoring minor irrigation sources like tanks and other water bodies to help small and marginal farmers.

Mission Bhagiratha:

• The scheme has been launched by the Telangana Government with an objective to provide safe drinking water to all.
• Its objective is to provide 100 litres of clean drinking water per person in rural households and 150 litres per person in urban households.

 

72.Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban

Why in news?

• Urban India, except Bengal, declared open defecation-free, says Ministry.

More about the news

• The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban has achieved its target of creating urban India ODF.
• Urban areas of 35 States and Union Territories have become ODF.
• In all, 4,320 cities [out of 4,372] have declared themselves ODF, of which 4,167 cities have been certified through third-party verification.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban

• The Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U) launched on 2nd October 2014 aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste in 4,041 statutory towns in the country.
• The Mission has the following components:
• Household toilets, including conversion of insanitary latrines into pour-flush latrines;
• Community toilets
• Public toilets
• Solid waste management
• IEC & Public Awareness
• Capacity building and Administrative & Office Expenses (A&OE)
• Initiatives Under SBM-U
• ODF, ODF+ and ODF++ Protocol:

• ODF: No visible faeces shall found in the environment and every household, as well as public/community institutions, should be using safe technology option for disposal of faeces.
• ODF+: Not a single person should be defecating and/or urinating in open. All community and public toilets should be properly maintained and cleaned.
• ODF++: Proper treatment and management of faecal sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated. There should be no discharge or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open areas.
• Water + Protocol: It is designed to ensure that no untreated wastewater is discharged into the open environment or water bodies.
• Star rating protocol for Garbage free cities: It is based on 12 parameters which follow a SMART framework – Single metric, Measurable, Achievable, Rigorous verification mechanism and Targeted towards outcomes.
• As on date, 4 cities namely, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Mysore (Karnataka) have been certified as 5-star cities.
• Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs): MoHUA has also partnered with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to use the plastic waste for road construction.
• Swachh Surevkshan: it is an innovative survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban, to rank cities on various sanitation and cleanliness parameters.
• The Swachhata hi Seva campaign of 2019

 

 

73.Swachh Survekshan League 2020

Why in news?

• Union Ministry Housing and Urban Affairs announced the results of Swachh Survekshan League 2020 (Quarter 1 and Quarter 2).

More Information

• Swachh Survekshan League 2020 (SS League 2020) was introduced with the objective of sustaining the on ground performance of cities along with continuous monitoring of service level performance when it comes to cleanliness.
• SS League 2020 is being conducted in 3 quarters,

1. April- June,
2. July – September
3. October- December2019

• It has 2000 marks for each quarter evaluated on the basis of monthly updation of SBM-U online MIS by cities along with citizen’s validation on the 12 service level progress indicators through outbound calls.
• Ranks have been assigned in two categories, namely
• Cities with population of one lakh and above

1. 1-10 lakh and
2. 10 lakhs and above

• Cities with population of less than 1 lakh (the rankings are given zone and population wise).
• The performance of cities in SS League 2020 is crucial to their ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2020 due to the 25% weightage of the quarterly assessments to be included in the annual survey scheduled to commence from 4 January till 31 January 2020.

Findings from Swachh Survekshan League 2020

• In the category of 10 lakh plus population, Indore secured first place.
• Following Indore,Bhopal and Surat are in second and third places respectively.
• In the category of population between one lakh and 10 lakhs, Jamshedpur was in 1st spot following New Delhi and Khargone.

Swachh Survekshan

• It is a ranking exercise taken up by the Government of India to assess rural and urban areas for their levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.
• The Union Ministry of Housing And Urban Development, Government of India takes up the Swachh Survekshan.
• The Quality Council of India (QCI) has been commissioned the responsibility of carrying out the assessment.
• The process of ranking cities and town of India on the basis of cleanliness was first conducted in 2016, which covered 73 cities.
• The second and third round of the survey in 2017 and 2018 widened the coverage of the assessment to 434 cities with a population of one lakh and above and 4,203 cities respectively.
• The 4th edition covered 4237 cities in a record time of 28 days and was a fully digitized paperless survey.
• Swachh Survekshan 2020 is the 5th edition of the annual urban cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry.

Objectives

• The annual cleanliness survey aims to encourage large scale participation of citizens in cleanliness drives.
• It aims to ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free and open defecation free cities.
• It aims to create awareness among all sections of the society regarding the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in.

74.National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self-Employed Persons (NPS-Traders) 2019

Why in news?

• National Pension Scheme for traders fails to gain traction.

National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self-Employed Persons (Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana):

• It is a voluntary and contribution based central sector scheme. 
• Under the scheme, the subscriber would receive a minimum assured pension of Rs 3000/- per month after attaining the age of 60 years.
• The beneficiary should not be income tax payer and also not a member of EPFO/ESIC/NPS (Govt.)/PM-SYM.
• The Central Government shall give 50 % share of the monthly contribution and remaining 50% contribution shall be made by the beneficiary. 

Eligibility Criteria:  

• Should be a retail trader/ shopkeeper or self-employed persons
• Entry age between 18 and 40 years
• Annual turnover is Rs. 1.5 crore or below

He/ She should possess

• Aadhar card
• Savings Bank Account / Jan Dhan account number with IFSC

75.Street Lighting National Programme

Why in news?

• Government of India’s zero subsidies Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and LED Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), marked its fifth anniversary on 5^th

More about

• SLNP is the world’s largest streetlight replacement programme and UJALA is the world’s largest domestic lighting project.
• Both have been spearheaded and implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.

Street Lighting National Programme

• Under the SLNP programme, over 1.03 crore smart LED streetlights have been installed till date, enabling an estimated energy savings of 6.97 billion kWh per year and an estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction of 4.80 million tCO2 annually.
• LED streetlights have been installed in various states across the country, helping generate approximately 13,000 jobs to support GoI’s Make in India initiative.
• Simultaneously, LED Street Lighting National Programme has enabled citizens to increase productivity at night and made roads safer for pedestrians and motorists due to enhanced brightness and reduced dark spots

Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA)

• UJALA project brought the market transformation in energy efficiency sector.
• Prices of LED bulbs being distributed under UJALA programme have fallen to one-tenth of their rates in 2015 from INR. 310 to INR 38 in 2018.
• The switch from inefficient incandescent bulbs to LEDs is helping families reduce their electricity bills while also enabling them to access better brightness in homes.
• With the average household electricity bills down by 15 per cent, the annual energy saving is equivalent to a week’s average earning.
• The sale of LED bulbs in the Indian market increased from 0.1 per cent of the lighting market in 2014 to 15 per cent within a year, with a projected increase to 60 per cent by 2020.
• As a part of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan GSA, 21,058 Indian villages with a significantly large number of poor households were able to buy LED bulbs for a special price under UJALA programme.

76.India’s under­-5 girls face high mortality

Why in news?

• India’s under-5 mortality of girls exceeds that of boys, unlike global trend, says UN report.

About the news:

• India is among the few coun­tries in the world, in 2018, the mortality for girls under-5 years of age exceed­ed that of boys, according to the ‘Levels and Trends in Child Mortality’ report by the United Nations (UN) in­ter­agency group for child mortality.

India’s 2017Sample Registration System:

• The States with the highest burden of neonatal mortality are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, with 32, 33 and 30 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births, respec­tively.
• India’s neonatal mor­tality rate is 23 per 1,000 live births.
• Further, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand showed the largest gender gaps in un­der­-5 mortality.

From the Information re­leased by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund):

• Uttar Pradesh is the State with the highest number of estimated new­ born deaths in India,
• Because of the high neonatal mortality rate and because of the large cohort of births that occur every year in the State.
• The major causes of neo­natal mortality are pre-­term birth, intrapartum related events, and neonatal infection.

Note –Half of all under­-5 deaths in 2018 occurred in five countries: India, Nigeria, Pa­kistan, the Democratic Repu­blic of the Congo and Ethio­pia.

• India and Nigeria alone account for about a third.

77.Women, Business and Law (WBL) Index 2020

Why in news?

• India scores highest among South Asian nations in Women, Business and Law Index.

Women, Business and the Law:

• A woman, Business and the Law (WBL) is a World Bank Group project collecting unique data on the laws and regulations that restrict women’s economic opportunities.

Women, Business and Law (WBL) Index:

• Women, Business and the Law (WBL) measures gender inequality in the law. 
• Released by: World Bank

Eight parameters:

• The study examined laws and regulations affecting women’s economic opportunities across 190
• There were eight parameters –

1. Workplace
2. Pay
3. Mobility
4. Marriage
5. Parenthood
6. Pensions
7. Assets
8. Entrepreneurship

Global Performance:

• Only eight economies among the 190 score the perfect 100 on the WBL Index.
• These are Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Sweden and Canada.

About India:   

• India is placed 117th among 190 countries.
• The country gained 4 per cent year-on-year with a score of 74.4 out of 100.
• Among the BRICS countries, India’s score is only second to the last.
• South Africa tops the WBL index, followed by Brazil.

Note – Women, on average, have just three-fourths of the legal rights afforded to men globally, as per the WBL study.

 

78.World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020 (WESO) Report

Why in news?

• Global unemployment projected to rise by around 2.5 million in 2020: UN labour report.

More about the news

• The International Labour Organization (ILO) forecasts that unemployment will rise by about 2.5 million this year.
• Report states that, moderate or extreme working poverty is expected to edge up in 2020-21 in developing countries, increasing the obstacles to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1 on eradicating poverty everywhere by 2030.
• The annual WESO Trends report by International Labour Organization (ILO) analyses key labour market issues, including unemployment, labour underutilization, working poverty, income inequality, labour income share and factors that exclude people from decent work.

Key findings of the report

• The number of people unemployed around the world stands at some 188 million.
• Currently working poverty affects more than 630 million workers, or one in five of the global working population.
• Working poverty is defined as earning less than USD 3.20 per day in purchasing power parity terms.
• Inequalities related to gender, age and geographical location continue to plague the job market, with the report showing that these factors limit both individual opportunity and economic growth.
• 165 million people do not have enough paid work, and 120 million have either given up actively searching for work or otherwise lack access to the labour market.
• Almost half a billion people are working fewer paid hours than they would like or lack adequate access to paid work.
• The rise in trade restrictions and protectionism, which could have a significant impact on employment, is seen as a potentially worrying trend.

79.Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme

Why in news?

• The Centre is on the verge of running out of funds for the crucial Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
• More than 96% of the allocated money has already been spent or is needed to pay pending dues, with less than 2,500 crore left to sustain the scheme for the next two months.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme

• The Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members (at least 18 years of age) volunteer to do unskilled work.
• The central government bears the full cost of unskilled labour, and 75% of the cost of material (the rest is borne by the states).
• It is a demand-driven, social security and labour law that aims to enforce the ‘right to work’.
• Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Government of India in association with state governments, monitors the implementation of the scheme.
• Agriculture and allied activities constitute more than 65% of the works taken up under the programme.

e – Saksham

• e – Saksham is a GIS based course under MGNREGA, for resource management at Grama Panchayats level.
• The course is mainly provided to technical staff of MGNREGA and line departments.
• Web based GIS application such as Bhuvan; Google Earth Pro etc. are part of the course.

 

80,National Population Policy

Why in news?

The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare says about the achievements of National Population Policy in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

• The National Family Planning Programme of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is guided by the tenets of the National Population Policy 2000 and oversees its implementation.
• As a result of the Government’s efforts, the successes achieved are enumerated below:
• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 2.9 in 2005 to 2.2 in 2017 (SRS).
• 25 out of 37 States/UTs have already achieved replacement level fertility of 2.1 or less.
• The Decadal growth rate has declined from 21.54% in 1999-2000 to 17.64 % during 2001-11.
• The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) has declined from 23.8 to 20.2 from 2005 to 2017 (SRS).
• The Teenage birth rate has halved from 16 % (NFHS III) to 8 % (NFHS IV).

81.Gender Parity Index

Why in news?

• As per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) Report 2018-19, there is an increase in Gender Parity Index in Higher Education across the country: says HRD Minister.

What is gender parity?

• Ratio of female to male values of a given indicator
• Gender Parity Index (GPI) equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males.
• In general, a value less than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of boys and a value greater than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of girls.

Gender Parity Index

• Gender Parity Index (GPI) by All India Survey on Higher Education at various levels reflects equitable participation of girls in the School system.
• As per AISHE Report 2018-19, there is an increase in Gender Parity Index in Higher Education across the country.
• It has increased during the last five years from 92 in 2014-15 to 1.0 in 2018-19.

What are the initiatives by Government to bring gender parity?

• To bring gender parity and equity in School Education, various interventions  have been targeted for girls under Samagra Shiksha which include opening of schools in the neighbourhood as defined by the State.
• Provision of free text-books to girls up to Class VIII, uniforms to all girls up to class VIII, provision of gender segregated toilets in all schools.
• Teachers’ sensitization programmes to promote girls’ participation
• Provision for Self-Defence training for the girls from classes VI to XII
• Construction of residential quarters for teachers in remote/hilly areas.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs)

• In addition to this, to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education and for providing quality education to girls from disadvantaged groups, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) have been sanctioned in Economically Backward Blocks (EBBs) under Samagra Shiksha.  
• KGBVs are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL). 
• A total of 5930 KGBVs have been sanctioned under Samagra Shiksha as on 30.09.2019.

82.Track Child Portal

Why in news?

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) is hosting a web portal “TrackChild” to track the missing and found children.

Track Child Portal

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) is hosting a web portal “Track Child” to track the missing and found children.
• The Portal is implemented in association with various stakeholders including Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Railways, State Governments/UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards and National Legal Services Authority.
• The “Khoya-Paya” another citizen centric portal has also been launched in 2015.
• The Ministry of WCD supports 24×7 outreach helpline service for children in distress.
• This service is available through a dedicated toll free number, 1098, which can be accessed by children in crisis or by adults on their behalf from any place in the geographical location of India.
• The Ministry has been using Facial Recognition System employed by Delhi Police to track the missing children, with the help of NIC.

83.USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) 

Why in news?

• “Hunar Haat” proved to be a “Mega Mission” of economic empowerment of needy master artisans and  craftsmen: Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister for Minority Affairs.
• About 3 lakh needy master artisans, craftsmen & culinary experts have been provided employment and employment opportunities through “Hunar Haat” in the last 3 years.

• These beneficiaries include a large number of women artisans also.

USTTAD

• Hunar Haat is an exhibition of handicrafts and traditional products.
• These are organised by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs under USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development)
• The scheme aims to promote and preserve therich heritage of the traditional arts & crafts of the minority communities.
• These Haat aims to provide market exposure and employment opportunitiesto artisans, craftsmen and traditional culinary experts.
• It envisages promoting the skills of craftsmen, weavers and artisans already engaged in the traditional ancestral work.

84.National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report on children and women trafficking

Why in news?

• Mumbai, Kolkata see highest women, child trafficking cases: NCRB study

Background:

• In 2011, the SC constituted a panel which submitted its report in 2019.
• The panel has asked the apex court to direct the NCRB to compile data on missing children and women to identify the areas prone to trafficking.

Findings:

• According to the NCRB study, the common causes of trafficking were forced marriages, child labour, domestic help and sexual exploitation, among others.
• Mumbai and Kolkata reported maximum number of trafficking.
• Madhya Pradesh recorded the maximum number of cases of missing children while Maharashtra reported the most cases of missing women.
• Maharashtra, however, registered a decline of over 41% in number of missing children in 2018 as compared to 2017 while Assam registered a growth of 41% as compared to the previous year.
• Of all the states,on missing women Odisha registered an increase of over 143% in 2018 as compared to 2017.

Note –The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global report 2018 on trafficking indicates that the vast majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation were females.

85.National Deworming Day (NDD)

Why in news?

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) conducted the tenth round of National Deworming Day (NDD).

• National Deworming Day (NDD) is observed bi-annually on February 10 and August 10.
• The day aims at eradicating intestinal worms also known as Soil-Transmitted Helminthes (STH), among children in the age group of 1-19 years.
• Children and adolescents are administered a single dose of a safe medicine Albendazole across government, government-aided schools, anganwadis, private schools and other educational institutions.
• According to the World Health Organization, about 241 million children in India in the ages of 1-14 years are at a risk of parasitic intestinal worms or STH.
• This means, India accounts for approximately 28 per cent of the total number of children globally estimated to be at-risk of STH infections.
• Launched in 2015, the NDD is the largest public health program implemented on a single day reaching crores of children and adolescents through two NDD rounds every year.
• Implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Human Resource Development, NDD is a key intervention of Anemia Mukt Bharat.
• Its success and impact lie in convergence with the Swachh Bharat Mission.
• NDD presents opportunities to further policy dialogue on health and nutrition as a way of supplementing efforts under POSHAN Abhiyaan.

What Are Intestinal Worms?

• Intestinal worms are parasites that live in the human intestines and consume nutrients and vitamins that a child consumes.
• There are three main types of STH that infect people,

1. Roundworm
2. Whipworm
3. Hookworms

• These worms depend on the human body for their food and survival and while being there, they lay thousands of eggs each day.

• There is a long list of the negative effects and dangers of the worm infection.
• Since worms feed on host (human body) tissues, including blood, it leads to loss of iron, and protein, resulting in anemia – reduced oxygen carrying capacity due to less Hemoglobin (Hb) available in the body.

86.A Future for the World’s Children Report

Why in news?

• No single country is adequately protecting children’s health, future says report.

About the report:

• The report was recently released by the WHO, UNICEF and the Lancet medical journal. 
• The report calculates the Flourishing Index and Sustainability Index of 180 countries.
• Flourishing is the geometric mean of Surviving and Thriving.
• The Sustainability Index ranks countries on excess carbon emissions compared with the 2030 target. 

Performance of India:

• India secures 131st rank on a flourishing index that measures the best chance at survival and well-being for children.
• India ranked 77th on a sustainability index

 

87.Participation of women in various schemes

Why in news?

• Ministry of Finance, in the past six years has launched various schemes which have special provisions for empowerment of women.
• As we are celebrating International Women’s Day on 8^thMarch 2020, we take a look at various schemes initiated by the Ministry of Finance which have benefitted the women in India.

Stand-Up India Scheme

• The objective of this scheme is to facilitate bank loans between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of SCBs for setting up a Greenfield enterprise.
• As on 17.02.2020, more than 81% account holders under Stand Up India Scheme are women.

Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY)

• PMMY was launched for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises.
• These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, MFIs and NBFCs.
• MUDRA has created three products namely ‘Shishu’, ‘Kishore’ and ‘Tarun’to signify the stage of growth / development and funding needs of the beneficiary.
• As on 31.01.2020, 70% of the total loan borrowers are Women.

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

• The scheme envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every adult.
• As on 19.02.2020, 20.33 crore beneficiaries out of 38.13 crore beneficiaries are women which amounts to 53 %.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

• It envisages a universal social security system for all Indians, specially the poor and the under-privilege by offering guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000 -Rs. 5000 at the age of 60 years.
• As on 22.02.2020, more than 93 lakh subscribers (43%) out of a total of around 2.15 crore subscribers under APY are women.
• Women are in the forefront of saving for old age income security as their participation is higher than men in the States /UTs of Sikkim (73%), Tamil Nadu (56%), Kerala (56%), Andhra Pradesh (55%), Puducherry (54%), Meghalaya (54%), Jharkhand (54%), Bihar (52%).

 

88.Suposhit Maa Abhiyan

Why in news?

• The Lok Sabha speaker Shri Om Birla launched Suposhit Maa Abhiyan in Kota, Rajasthan.

Suposhit Maa Abhiyan:

• The Scheme is launched to help India achieve its target of “Malnutrition Free India” by 2022.
• It mainly provides nutritional support to pregnant women and adolescent girls.
• Suposhit Maa Abhiyan was launched to preserve the health of future generations.
• Under the programme, more than 1000 women are to be given food for 1 month.
• the health of the child, including medical examination, blood tests, medicines, delivery, would be covered.
• It is applicable only to one pregnant woman per family.
• In the first phase of the campaign, 1,000 kits of 17 kg balanced diet were provided to 1,000 pregnant women. 
• It includes milet flour, wheat, maize, gram, jaggery, large soybean, groundnut, ghee, dates, roasted gram, lentil, oatmeal and rice.

 

89.Kishori Shakti Yojana

Why in news?

• As per the information available, most of the States are maintaining Kishori Health Cards for Adolescent Girls in Angawadi Centres (AWCs).

More about the scheme:

• Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) seeks to empower adolescent girls, so as to enable them to take charge of their lives. It is viewed as a holistic initiative for the development of adolescent girls.
• This scheme is a redesign of the already existing Adolescent Girls (AG) Scheme being implemented as a component under the centrally sponsored Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.
• The broad objectives of the Scheme are to improve the nutritional, health and development status of adolescent girls, promote awareness of health, hygiene, nutrition and family care, link them to opportunities for learning life skills, going back to school, help them gain a better understanding of their social environment and take initiatives to become productive members of the society.
• Target Group under the scheme-Adolescent Girls (11-18 yrs.)
• States are maintaining Kishori Health Cards for Adolescent Girls (11-18 years) in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) to record the information about the weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI) along with other services provided under the scheme.

 

90.Gender Social Norms Index

Why in news?

• 90% of men and women are biased against women, finds UN study.

About the Index:

• Released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• The Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI)measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education.
• It contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80 percent of the world’s population.

From the report:

• According to GSNI, nearly half of the world’s population believe it is men who make better leaders.
• About 40 per cent of people believe that men make better business executives.
• The total number of female heads of government is actually lower than five years ago, down to 10 from 15 in 2014, as per the study.
• The study found that there were no countries in the world with gender equality.

 

 91.Schemes for Minority Communities

Why in news?

• The details of the schemes being implemented by the union Ministry Of Minority Affairs was given by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

More about the schemes

• The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs implements programmes/schemes for the six (6) centrally notified minority communities namely, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs as under:-
• Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme – For educational empowerment of students.
• Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme – Provide fellowships in the form of financial assistance.
• Naya Savera – Free Coaching and Allied Scheme – The Scheme aims to provide free coaching to students/candidates belonging to minority communities for qualifying in entrance examinations of technical/ professional courses and Competitive examinations. 
• Padho Pardesh – Scheme of interest subsidy to students of minority communities on educational loans for overseas higher studies.
• Nai Udaan – Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff Selection Commission (SSC) etc.
• Nai Roshni – Leadership development of women belonging to minority communities.
• Seekho Aur Kamao – Skill development scheme for youth of 14 – 35 years age group and aiming at improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts etc.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) -Implemented for the benefit of the people from all sections of the society in identified Minority Concentration Areas for creation of assets in education, skill and health sectors.
• Jiyo Parsi – Scheme for containing population decline of Parsis in India.
• USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) launched in May 2015.
• Nai Manzil – A scheme for formal school education & skilling of school dropouts launched in Aug. 2015.
• Hamari Dharohar– A scheme to preserve rich heritage of minority communities of India under the overall concept of Indian culture implemented since 2014-15.

92.SVAMITVA Scheme

Why in News?

• The Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj issued guidelines regarding the SVAMITVA scheme, a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

More Information

• SVAMITVA scheme, a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Revenue Departments and Survey of India, aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India, engaging the latest Drone Surveying technology, for demarcating the inhabited land in rural areas.
• The program is currently being implemented in six states – Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• Under this, mapping of rural housing land can be done using the latest survey methods and drones.
• This scheme will help in streamlining planning and revenue collection in rural areas and ensuring clarity on property rights.
• The scheme will also enable the creation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plans Engaging Drone Surveying Technology.
• The aim of this scheme is to provide people in the rural areas with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.

Significance

• The scheme will ensure streamlined planning, revenue collection and provide clarity over property rights in rural areas. 
• This will open up avenues for applying for loans from financial institutions by the owners. 
• Disputes related to the property would also be settled through the title deeds allotted through this scheme.

93.Revamp of Swachhata App

Why in News?

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched a revised version of the existing Swachhata-MoHUA App in order to handle the queries specific to Covid-19.

Key Points:

• Swachhata-MoHUA is the official platform for Swachh Bharat Mission built in partnership with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• The app enables a citizen to post a civic-related issue (eg; a garbage dump, public toilets not cleaned, etc.) which is then forwarded to the city corporation concerned and thereafter assigned to the sanitary inspector of the particular ward.
• Swachh Bharat Mission  is being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and by the Ministry of Jal Shakti for urban and rural areas respectively

Significance of the App:

• It serves as an effective digital tool (e-governance) enabling citizens to play an active role in the Swachhata of their cities and increase accountability on the part of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
• The revised version includes Covid-19 related support requests including fogging/sanitation, food, shelter and reporting violation of quarantine/lockdown, suspected cases of Infection.